B l o o d y C o n s p i r a c y: Truth or Lies
by amaya-black-wings
Summary: For centuries vampires have hidden themselves as people. They have awoken. The humans sign a contract with them, that they leave the world unchanged for fifteen years. But on the signing day, a girl is murdered, and Artemis as a vampire, is blamed. VampAU
1. Prologue: F i r s t C o n s p i r a c y

**Here it is people! My new story! (Actually, this is a prologue.)**

**Apologies to everyone as know one knows who the heck this person is. (Don't worry, she does matter!) Artemis WILL be in the first chapter that I will post in about... ten hours or so (I must sleep first!)**

**Prologue- First Conspiracy**

"This is our farewell."

Her voice was low, below even a whisper. No one would be able to hear it, for sure.

Except for him.

It wasn't the habitual and clichéd dark and stormy night. It was broad daylight. The sun was out and shone brightly over the cotton like clouds. The blue sky was airy and bright with spring.

The girl's brown hair shook as she wiped her perspiration off of her forehead. Her left hand pressing against her bleeding throat.

In the mansion, it was completely silent. The thick glass panes muffled the noise of the cheerfully chirping birds.

Inside, not a single candle was lit, and even though the sun struggled to bring light into the dark hall, it did not persevere. It was almost as if the inhabitants and their doings itself would push the bright away.

All she could hear was her heartbeat, and a stifling feeling set in her throat that she couldn't try to get out, for fear of making a noise.

She pulled her hand slowly away from the twin punctures, crimson painting onto her chestnut locks. Slowly she brought her hand upwards; the blood was dark like rose, but not as dark as the blood spread across the floor. That blood was black as sin.

His body was completely still, and his skin was a lifeless ivory, not that that mattered, he was always pale as the moon.

"Never again…" the woman muttered, finally find the strength to get off her knees, "Never again will there be pain such as this."

With that she ran into the warm glow of the morning that she was deprived of for so long, feeling the grass tickling her feet as she ran. She could care less about the blood that covered her clothes, it would signify nothing but freedom to her own people.

She stretched her arms wide open and made a declaration under the cool sky.

"Never again will there be pain such as this! We will conquer the Vampirean Government! We will _live_!"

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**Yes, it's short! (For the people that want to be more clued in than this, here's the basics of this prologue: In the AU that I will work with the Artemis Fowl cast, vampires are not just a myth but a prominent myth with many legends and epic poems and such. This is one of the most popular folk stories.)**

**Artemis shall arrive in the next chapter! (Along with Ame! Yes! For my Re(live) fans, she's back! As for new people, I hope you'll grow to like her!)**

**As long as everything goes well and people review, you'll get your first chapter in ten hours or so!**

**So please review, and I hope you people will like Bloody Conspiracy!**


	2. Second Conspiracy: M o o n

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. Jeez, if that were the truth... I dunno what I'd do.**

**Thank you everyone for your reviews! Here's the first chapter! A WARNING TO ALL, ARTEMIS WILL BE OOC FOR ALMOST OBVIOUS REASONS UNTIL CHAPTER TWO. FOR NOW, HANG ON AND THINK OF HIM AS SOME REALLY SORT OF CLUMSY SMART CUTE GUY THAT LOOKS LIKE ARTEMIS... OR SOMETHING.**

_**Bloody Moon**_

"What's up, girly?" a blonde boy with overly gelled spikes sneered.

A few boys behind him chuckled to themselves.

The boy that spoke first had pressed one hand against the cool brick wall of the alley, blocking the entrance and exit to the small space between the two large buildings.

He scratched his growing goatee as if in thought, looking at the black haired boy they had cornered. Suddenly, as if a great inspiration hit him, he held up one index finger, blue eyes flashing. "Maybe you should've been a girl, Artemis. Even you name disagrees with your gender."

The pale boy by the name of Artemis only looked down onto his worn out loafers as he tugged nervously at his tie. A brown haired boy with spidery limbs and a bowl cut scoffed in the background, "Can't say anything with your queen not around, huh? Did she command you not to say anything? Are you her lady in waiting?"

Like dogs, they all began to howl with laughter, slapping their knees like the idiotic louts they were.

Suddenly Artemis' body flinched. Surprised, they all stopped to see his long fingers curl into fists. For one moment, he looked at them with a devastating glare. Behind the thick rimmed glasses he wore, his blue eyes showed no fear, something that looked like he was utterly indifferent, something that looked completely unfamiliar on his face.

A book bag was dropped onto the ground behind the blonde boy. The look they had just saw completely disappeared off his face, resuming his fearful head bent posture.

Black eyes were filled with rage as they turned to see a short Asian girl standing next to a taller golden haired girl.

The angry black eyes belonged to none other than the irate petite girl. She barked out so suddenly that the boys seemed to shrink in surprise. "What the HELL are you guys doing?!" she snapped.

The calmer and more composed older girl flipped back her long fair-haired braid as she pulled Artemis out from his makeshift confinement.

"Queen Ame comes, eh?" he scratched his goatee again, a smirk stretched out on his lips.

Ame pulled a bright green clip out of her hair and stuck in the pocket of her plaid uniform skirt, crouching on her legs as if to pounce, her hands out in defense.

By the time she was able to complete her stance, most of the gang had ran off. They all knew that form. When she pulled off her clip, they knew she meant business.

He shoved his hands into his pockets in response, laughing smugly. "Come on, what can a pint-sized chick do to me?"

"Ugh… bad idea for him…" the girl twirled her braid around nervously.

Ame's eyes blazed dangerously as she stood straight again, pointing at him confidently, "That was a bad move on your part… that was three strikes."

"…What the hell?" he shrugged in response.

"Strike one," she lifted her fingers up, counting, "Your goatee is downright ugly, pug face. Stop scratching it, looks like you have lice or something…"

His face nearly turned bright as a tomato with anger.

The black haired boy pushed up his glasses and sighed to himself.

"Strike two, you messed with my best friend over here. Don't call him a girl, you shit-head." Before he could even make a move, she finished, "Strike three, you called me short, you over gelled freak-"

He snapped, sprinting right at her.

"-Now come get me, asshole!"

He swung a punch at her, and she ducked easily, swinging her leg around as a low kick. He smirked in response, jumping clear over it.

"Look!" she suddenly shouted.

He stopped, a bright green object whacked him on the forehead. Before he could even recover, she dove at him, elbowing him in the stomach, sending him sprawling onto the cement ground.

The last thing the blonde teenager would see was the bottom of a shoe.

"Yeahhh!!" the taller girl jumped up and down, cheering loudly.

Ame stuck her tongue and smiled devilishly, "I think that one deserves a ten, Juliet!"

Juliet nodded her head in complete agreement, her braid bouncing on her shoulder.

"Ame Shiku!"

The Japanese girl knew that infuriated voice, muttering curses as she slowly turned around. With a begrudging look on her face, she muttered, "Yes, Principal Root?"

"You ALL are in trouble, I tell you!" his face nearly purple with rage.

Ame was quick to defend anyone but her, "It's not Juliet's fault or Artemis'-"

"Of _course_ it's not Artemis' fault! He's our top student, for Frond's sake! At least you didn't put the blame on him." The principal barked, waving his cigar around angrily.

It was always a wonder what "Frond" was, but no student ever asked for fear that he would keel over from fury.

"Come to my office with me, _now._" Root commanded.

Crossly, the girl obeyed, Juliet followed behind reluctantly. With one last look, both girls turned to follow the stout but feared man.

Someone tugged on the black haired girl's sleeve. She stopped, turning around to see Artemis look bitter with sadness.

"Sor-" the genius tried to say.

"-Jeez, it's that stupid goateed pug faced guy. Not your fault at all… besides, it happens all the time." She smiled widely, despite her current situation.

She reached out to flick his forehead.

"Stop bein' such a wimp. I'll be back in a flash."

_**Bloody Moon**_

_The taste lingered in his throat, the burning feeling remained. He was thirsty, and no matter what he drank, nothing helped. The rusty scent swirled around, dulling his senses. Whatever it was, he needed it. _

_He uncurled his hand, a white petal sat in the middle of his palm, its white surface was stained with a red as dark as ripe cherries._

_Gently he brought it up to look at it closer. If it hadn't been tainted, the white would have been as white as his own skin, like a pale moon._

_His curiosity and the strange burning prompted him to lick its surface clean, enjoying the metallic taste. _

_On the ground was blood, now that he realized what the tempting crimson substance was. It was two people's blood. _

_One was as red as a rose, poetic in its own twisted way, while the other was dark as sin and filled his senses with its stench._

_The room was dark. A single window showed the moon. At first he didn't pay attention to it, but strangely it drew him to look at it again. _

_The moon was red… blood red… _

_Under its crimson gaze, in the room, he could make out a single lock of black hair, the rest of the body covered in the darkness-_

He woke up with a shock, his blue eyes wide in confusion. Looking around, he realized he was in the school halls. They were empty of even a single person. Slowly he got off the wooden bench, feeling the pain that came as a consequence of sleeping on something that stiff.

Artemis reached under the bench and pulled on his glasses. With bleary and shaken thoughts, he read the time out to be early afternoon. Most students were most likely out to eat.

The boy only had enough time to straighten his tie and sort of pull his scrambled mind together before the heavy oak door of the principal office opened. Ame looked as impassive as ever and more than slightly relieved that she was finally out of the office that was permeated with the heavy stink of a cigar.

"Eh?" She grinned widely, "Hey Artemis! You waited for me?"

He smiled back in response, "Sort of… I fell asleep on the bench waiting."

"Didja have nice dreams?" the girl put her hands on her hips.

His face paled, if that was even possible with his skin. She noticed his sudden stiffness and sat down beside him. Straightening out her skirt she looked at him carefully, "You okay? You look kinda green…"

"I'm absolutely fine, trust me." The genius said as convincingly as he could.

She pinched up her lips, giving him a skeptical look. "Okay… what took you so long today?" Ame suddenly said almost angrily, "You know those idiots like to beat you up! Stupid guys! They only do it because they're late and they figure that they have nothing better to do!"

"I was studying the patterns of Lunar Eclipses." He explained, "I researched a bit too much and didn't realize the time…"

"Huh?"

Artemis laughed a bit to himself, already knowing that that would be her reply. "The next one is a few weeks from now. They label what type it's going to be by L-0, L-1, L-2, etc."

She flopped backwards on the bench, listening to the old rickety thing squeak in protest. "Okay, what's this year's gonna be?"

"An L-3, that means it's going to sort of be a brick color, dark rust, or like-" he stopped, visions of a white petal floating in a pool of blood flashed before him.

"Like… a red rose? Like blood?" Ame attempted to finish for him.

He swallowed nervously, as if the action would dislodge the grotesque memories of his dream from his mind. "Yes… sort of like blood."

She turned her gaze towards one of the floor to ceiling windows of the second story of the school, black birds flew in a lopsided V formation outside. Happily, she asked, "Are we gonna go see it then?"

Another bloody scene overtook his mind, making him feel ridiculous. Dreams had no substance, nothing. They didn't hold foreboding prophecies or even a grain of sense most of the time.

"We'll go if Juliet can drive… Butler's going out of town this week for a convention of some sort…"

Artemis was plainly adopted by the Butler family. Juliet and Domovoi Butler were the only real blood siblings, though the two siblings had a steep difference in age. Ever since he was a young boy, Artemis had a habit of addressing Domovoi as simply Butler, and this habit carried on well into his adolescence.

The way his parents passed away was by mysterious means, and Ame never dared to venture further than what he had told her, scared that she would bring up old scars.

Ame herself moved to Ireland from America (and before that, Japan.) at the young age of four. She was shy and strangely stubborn at the same time, clinging tenaciously at her mother's side.

Through a chance encounter and the realization of newfound abilities, she was able to fend off a few neighborhood bullies for Artemis. After that day, they were almost stuck at the hip. To the school it wasn't in a romantic sense, and to them, it wasn't either. A few joked that it was a queen and servant sort of relationship. She would beat a few louts for him, and in return, he tagged along with her almost wherever they went, helping her with homework whenever he could.

The Japanese girl made a strange strangled noise, "Aghagagagah….you suck, Arty." She grabbed him suddenly in a tight hug, "Why do you have to be so damn smart? All I do is get into trouble and I don't understand what the hell prepositions are…"

"I… I can't help such a thing." He laughed in response.

"Stupid, stupid Arty has to be so stupidly smart…" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense, Ame."

The bell rang and echoed through the hall way as she pulled away from her almost choking embrace. With bright eager eyes she said goodbye to him ran off, he waved to her quickly disappearing figure.

**_Bloody Moon_**

_Would you wake up? I can't believe how slow you're moving! You're going to ruin everything if you don't hurry!_

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**I hope everyone liked my first chapter. If anyone didn't read the note in the very beginning, Artemis is SUPPOSED to be very OOC for now and until the end of chapter two. **

**Look forward to chapter two sometime!**

**For now, please review! **


	3. Third Conspiracy: A w a k e n i n g

**Disclaimer: If I own Artemis, I would make him run around in circles and smack his head into the wall... which is exactly what I'm going to do when a video game comes out.**

**Here's the second chapter! (If anyone's noticed, I update after my story's fallen off the front page XDD) Welp, wimpy Artemis no more after this chapter! Be very happy... XD THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS.**

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**xXBloody AwakeningXx**

"_Hey." _

_He spun around, a girl with blonde curls and a proud face stared back at him. _

"_Would you wake up? I can't believe how slow you're moving! You're going to ruin everything if you don't hurry!__" Her voice was disdainful and haughty. _

_He was in the same room once again, an eerily blood covered moon lit the sky from the single window. _

_Under the window were three roses. White, red, and black. _

_The blonde girl walked up to them, crushing the white rose under her heel. _

"_Aren't you thirsty?" she asked him with inquisitive eyes. _

_He took the red one, biting off its petals. A sweet taste melded with the memory of the metallic, making it strangely pleasant. His throat began to burn once again, the feeling stronger than before._

"_I don't understand why you tried to make this harder on yourself. Don't go on a rampage when you DO wake up." Her eyes were a steely grey as she handed him the only rose left, the black one. _

**xXBloody AwakeningXx**

Ame tapped her clip with her fingernail. It was a nervous habit of hers. Her face was scrunched up in frustration.

The genius sighed next to her, poking around in the grass they were sitting on.

"So… this crazy lady goes up and kills the vampire… that's why we need to celebrate this folklore?" She craned her neck to look around him, flat on her stomach.

"…You sort of botched the purpose of the story," He sighed again, un-knotting his tie, "It's not supposed to have a complex plotline. It's a folklore passed down as entertainment."

The girl propped up her hand on her knee as she glared at no one in particular, "Why couldn't we get something easy like Little Red Riding Hood as our folklore story project? I swear, Mrs. Lookba is biased."

"I thought you liked vampires," he grinned lopsidedly.

"Well, I do!" Ame responded, flailing her arms, "It's just... a human girl killed a vampire? Vampires are supposed to be uber hot and uber powerful! I mean... it just doesn't seem possible..."

He turned his away to look at the sun that was slowly lowering itself into the night. "Really now... what a peculiar statement..."

"Eh?" she could barely catch the soft words.

Artemis turned to her, "What?"

"Uh... what did you say?" she asked him again.

He cocked his head to a side, his unkempt hair swaying slightly, "Say what?"

The girl glared at him, "You said something!"

"I... I didn't..."

"Bah! Whatever!" she shrugged, looking back at the pages of folklore in their literature text book.

The genius began poking around in the grass again, "I'll buy the poster board before we go out tonight."

Ame looked at him strangely for a moment, "Oh yeah! The eclipse! Uh... I'll get all the art materials and stuff then. We can work at your house afterwards!"

"We should get going now, then." He looked at his watch.

She nodded in agreement as she got up, stretching from being in her laying position for so long.

A few minutes later Juliet approached them, pointing to the car. Artemis smiled warmly as the Japanese girl waved her hand erratically goodbye to him.

"You okay?" The blonde girl asked, a look of concern on her face as she steered the driving wheel to the left, "You didn't sleep very well last night, didn't you? I could hear you yelling the whole time."

As soon as Ame was out of sight, his face sagged, evidence of a sleepless night. Pinching the bridge of his nose he shook his head. "I was having some frightful dreams last night... I think I need to go take a nap before I meet up with her later."

She made an agreeing noise, not voicing out the nightmares she also had the night before.

**xXBloody AwakeningXx**

"Over here! Over here!" The Japanese girl pointed quickly at an empty spot.

Artemis loped behind her, despite his tiredness, he was happy.

He was not so successful in his attempt to take a nap. More nightmares gathered. A girl with cold eyes reappeared again and again, urging him to wake up.

Wake up from what? He scrunched his face in frustration.

More spectators gathered to look at the brilliant moon. Ame bounced up and down excitedly like a small child at the theme park for the first time.

"This is so awesome! Look! It's changing!" She exclaimed to him, he only smiled as he already was looking.

Suddenly, a pain shot through his body. His eyes went impossibly wide, grasping at his head. Artemis twisted his head around to see Ame's horrified face, her hand reaching out to him.

He snapped away from her, landing on his side. He could see it, her _pulse_. Even when he couldn't look at it, he could hear it. It rang out, every time it sounded it was like a hammer crashing onto him.

A blood red moon shook in his vision. Suddenly the words the haughty girl had spoken made sense in a way he desperately tried to refuse.

Artemis grabbed at the collar of his shirt, making a strangely final ripping noise that sounded so far away. He opened his mouth attempted to call for help, but not a word was able to escape.

Even now, he could hear her heart beating as if it was calling for him. His teeth began to ache so violently, that in his desperation he got up and ran.

And everything went black.

**xXBloody AwakeningXx**

Her eyes snapped open.

The first thing she could see was a clear white moon. At first she took no notice as she got up, but as her head cleared she realized something was awfully wrong about it.

The moon was supposed to be _red_ today.

How long had she been out?

Her clothes were drenched with morning dew, the wind already giving her chills.

The first thought in her mind was to find Artemis. Ame had no idea how long she was asleep, or rather... unconscious.

But it didn't feel like she had been unconscious, so what exactly was she doing falling asleep? But this posed another question… why didn't anyone notice her?

Unsteadily, she got up and began trudging down the street, barely recognizing the streets that led to his house.

The night air was cool and crisp, but the town was eerily quiet. They lived in the suburbs, but at least a few drunks would be lolling around. The further she walked the lonelier she felt.

When she finally arrived at his doorstep, she reached for the doorbell but stopped, knowing that she would probably wake up his house.

The girl walked around to the back, the grass making a squishing noise as her shoes sank into the wet muddy dirt.

A rather old tree stood just outside of Artemis' window. Shifting back before launching herself forward, she grabbed at the lowest branch and pulled herself up, making a quiet climb up to his window.

It was slightly open, just enough to squeeze her fingers under the glass and pull it upwards. Ame stopped and looked at it for a moment. Maybe he was expecting that she would look for him.

She pulled her shoes off and dropped them below, making a dull thump as they hit the ground. Carefully, she put one bare foot onto his desk, and then the other until she was completely in his room.

She pulled the window downwards as she looked around the dark room. The moon was casting shadows from the window in its pale light.

Ame lowered herself onto the ground from his desk, her feet padding quietly on the carpet. Something just felt completely off… where was Artemis?

A hand shot out and pushed her against the wall. Her eyes barely making contact with a pair of blazing blue.

Before she could screech a hand covered her mouth. In fear she could feel the intruder's tongue lick languidly up from her collarbone to her neck.

He breathed heavily before speaking, goose bumps rose slowly on her skin.

"Hello Ame… Such a pleasure to see you have awaken."

A shiver went down her spine as she heard the soft, low voice.

Her eyes widened as she barely recognized it.

_Artemis?_

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**No one's gonna throw anything at me... right? I hope you guys liked it! More good stuff to come!**

**Thanks to Eppy for Betaing, and please don't forget to review! **


	4. Fouth Conspiracy: Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I'm sure if I owned Artemis Fowl, there would be a scene where Artemis gets whacked in the face with a wedge of cheese. Now, there is no scene like that, is there?**

**Here's the third chapter, people! Thank you so much to everyone that's reviewed, I appreciate everyone of them!**

**Bloody Confrontation**

"…Artemis…?" Her voice was so light and shaken, she was almost disgusted with herself.

The boy leaned in closer, a mere inch or two away from her face. A brilliant smirk placed itself on his features.

Suddenly Ame dove under him. Whether he allowed her to escape or if she was able to do it by her own will was a question she didn't want to answer.

She grabbed the first thing she could feel for and threw it at him. Her uncertain question was answered as he dodged it with cat-like swiftness, the smug look still resting on his pale face.

It made a resounding crash. When she looked at the pieces, it was the vase she had given Artemis for his birthday last year. In it held three fake roses. White, red, and black.

Her hands balled into fists, her angry speech laced with fear. "You're not him… You're not Artemis…"

"I certainly am not." He answered quickly, the words rolling off his tongue like disguised poison.

The girl picked up a piece of the broken vase. The azure blue color glowed in the moonlight mockingly. "Then…" she pointed the piece at him as a warning, demanding, "Who are you?"

"The Artemis you knew never was." His electric blue eyes flashed, "The bumbling sad excuse of a genius was an elaborate lie."

She stared angrily at his confident smile. "Don't say that." She muttered, "Don't call him that…"

The silence was deadly, and the calm like a heavy fog. He was utterly like the friend she cared about so much, yet they were nothing at all alike. A hole tore in her heart, the ripping noise strangely final sounding.

"What the hell is a lie anyways?" Ame's fear began to lean towards anger steadily, "Are you saying that Artemis never existed? Look around you. You're the idiot! The proof is everywhere!"

The smirk seemed to melt away, replaced by an expression that made him look like he was carved out of stone.

He was completely silent. "Who are you…?" She asked once again.

Then in a horrific way, his face seemed to change without necessarily morphing. A lopsided grin on his face.

He was _Artemis_ again.

"_I thought you liked vampires."_

Instead of the sinuous dark voice he had, his voice was once again rough and awkward.

The knife in her heart twisted dangerously.

"'They're supposed to be uber hot and uber powerful,' you had said… did you not…?" his voice and mannerisms once again shadowy and cold.

Later she would admit to herself that she couldn't deny it. His features were sinfully handsome and mystifying, but at this moment all she could feel was pain.

Artemis picked up the white rose and examined it closely, apathetically, "Vampires have been hiding for centuries. A long time ago we had a… problem of sorts."

Suddenly he crushed the flower in the palm of his hand, and it crumbled into sand and fell through his fingers.

She shook her head ever so slightly. The idea that vampires truly existed eluded her completely. Yet what was even laughable was the idea that _her_ Artemis was one. Always had been, and never was really… him.

He plucked the red rose from the shards, licking it from the base of the stem to the fabric petals before speaking again, "I had hidden my conscience within your friend for quite sometime now. He was an illusion created by me."

"Just… stop bitching around and tell me what you want!" she exclaimed suddenly. Her hands had fallen to her sides, clenching the shard so tightly it cut into her skin.

In a blink of an eye he disappeared. A gust of wind blew, and then she could feel his presence behind her.

"You shouldn't test me," he breathed into her hair, "I am quite capable of devastating your blood count."

He brought her hand to his mouth, gently scraping it with his fangs. Ame had ceased her breathing, her heart pumping quicker with every second in terror. Blood began to seep out as he licked the cut leisurely.

Artemis dropped her hand as he turned her head to look at him. He smiled deviously at her horror-stricken face, her black eyes wide. "You are amusing," he decided, smoothly slipping the black rose into her hair, "Years ago a human would at least cry out for help."

"For now I am not interested in devouring your blood completely. I'm sure that would cause some evident chaos with the rest of the humans tomorrow morning." He seemed to glide towards the opposite side of the room.

For while all she could do was stand wordlessly, her knees threatening to give. "Are there… more of you?"

He looked at her, his face smooth as marble, "Of course." He simply stated.

How many more? Her face creased with immediate worry. What would happen to her family? Her friends?

"How many?"

He had begin to pick up the pieces of the broken vase, licking the shard that had cut into her skin. "I would have to say… at least one fourth of the world's population."

_One fourth?!_

"Are we… the human race going to die?" her voice, instead of growing louder, decreased with every word.

"No," he answered in a factual tone, "We would certainly devastate the population, as humans are already nearing their carrying capacity, but humans are our primary source of food. We aren't as short-sighted as slaughtering everyone."

That still meant that millions would die. The knife in her heart shifted to her stomach.

Ame lowered her head, "Can't you try… drinking animals instead?"

He had begin to piece the deep blue vase together, stopping, he looked at her with a small amused smile on his face, "Do you think we would choose the latter when the better is everywhere?"

"But aren't there good vampires that would try?" She questioned desperately.

"It depends on how you look at the word 'good'" he replied in an uninterested tone, "Is a wolf bad simply because he ate a rabbit?"

"No." She knew what he was going at, "But we're humans. It's different."

He spun a piece of the vase in his hands, "How? How is it different? Because humans and vampires are superior races?"

"No… because we're civilized, because we can think beyond instinct." She began to turn defiant.

His tone began to grow more irritated, seemingly annoyed by her ridiculous questioning. "I'm sad to say." He walked closer to her, "That that is slightly irrelevant."

Her face was pinched in anger. She was beyond her fear, her adrenaline had pushed her far from that point. "How?" She demanded.

Artemis took a deep breath before replying in a slow voice, as if explaining to a child, "When humans have no food left, they themselves begin to become vicious towards each other. Just like an overpopulated land full of rats. In the end, both of our races react in animalistic instinct."

Her eyebrows furrowed, stubbornly unwilling to accept what he was saying.

"You…" he patted her cheek in a mock affectionate manner, "Are prey."

A smirk settled on his face once again, "We hunt you… just like my namesake… we are hunters, predators."

"I hate you." She seethed, "You're a bastard."

He moved his hand from her cheek to her forehead, "Say whatever you wish, words and insults are not able to change the future."

Her eyes were filled with rage, his cold and emotionless.

Slowly his pale hand reached out for her eyes. She snapped her gaze shut as she felt the long slender fingers touch her eyelids.

"For now, Ame, have a good night's sleep."

"Wha-?"

The last thing she could see was that cynical smile on his face, and hating it with every fiber of her being.

And everything went black.

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**Did anyone make that connections with both of them blacking out and the roses? I hope so! (if not, try to now! XD) No one's going to throw anything at me this time either... right?**

**Artemis does his big change this chapter... so please tell me what you thought of it and REVIEW!! **

**Next chapter will come... when it comes... (reviews might make it faster XPPP)**


	5. Fifth Conspiracy: N e w s

**Hey you guys! Sorry I'm a little slow on the update this time. (School is trying to kill me within it's last stretches of life... aka: last week of school before finals) And then was down on the logins when I actually got around to update. Thank you so much for your reviews, here's the next chapter!**

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**xXBloody NewsXx**

Ame curled up under her covers, feeling the warm daylight on her face. She stretched lightly before shifting into another position, feeling hazy and tired.

"Your mannerisms are quite like a cat's."

Her eyes snapped open for the second time in five hours, nearly shooting out of bed. A few seconds later she could feel her anemia setting in as the sudden movement began to make her dizzy.

She wasn't curling under _her_ covers in _her_ room in _her_ bed, but in her friend's.

Artemis looked slightly bemused once again. An egotistical little smirk set on his face.

He wasn't quite her friend anymore.

Beside her on the nightstand was the vase she had shattered the night before. It had been carefully pieced back together and didn't appear broken in anyway.

He began to wander around the room, pulling out heavy books from various bookshelves lined around the walls.

"It was a good thing I decided to keep intelligence in my allusion." He said almost absentmindedly.

Last night had been confusing and dream-like in its absurdity. But now that it was bright day light, she found it hard to accept all over again that her friend never was.

"Wait…" she finally spoke, "What happened to Juliet and Butler?"

His blue eyes gleamed before calling out, "Juliet, please enter."

A few seconds later the girl entered, her head down in a respectful manner. "Yes, Master Artemis?"

"Juliet…" Ame's voice threatened to break.

The blonde girl blinked before bounding over to her with a wide grin on her face, "Ame! You stayed the night?"

It was the Japanese girl's turn to blink. "Juliet…? You're… almost normal?"

Juliet stopped, looking slightly regretful, "So you know, huh?"

"Sort of…" she smiled weakly, "But why is Artemis so different…?"

"Artemis likes doing these things… he thinks it's fun." She rolled her eyes secretively, "Besides, he has a lot more power than us. He was the one that was able to seal our consciences."

"Us as in…?"

"Me and my big brother." she answered, referring to Butler.

The other girl clenched the bed sheets, "Just how powerful is he?"

"Artemis? He's a government official."

"That's pretty big, then…?"

"Yup."

"What a bastard!" Ame exclaimed.

He snapped a book shut. "You should be a bit more mindful of other people's presences." He said, slightly peeved.

She glared, "Doesn't matter. You said that words and insults don't matter."

"If you were incompetent enough to not understand the meaning, I was essentially telling you that resistance was futile." He replied instantly.

Juliet laughed awkwardly, "Uh… why don't we go down and watch some morning wrestling matches?"

A knock on the door was heard. Artemis nodded, and strangely, the door opened. In came Butler, looking as large as ever.

"Miss Ame should go and eat breakfast, and we should continue with the rest of our activities."

"Fine." She crossed her arms as she got out of the bed, practically stomping down the stairs.

Artemis silently followed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

**xXBloody NewsXx**

"I need to read the newest Naruto," Ame declared, scooping some cheerios into her mouth.

Juliet had flopped onto the couch, flipping through channels on the television.

The genius had stationed himself across the kitchen counter, looking fairly interested in the daily newspaper. He put it down to look at the girl. "It's interesting how you can find it within yourself to somehow continue with your daily activities."

She gulped down her orange juice. "I'm working on my natural instinct. It's my nature to look for manga updates, I suppose."

His eyebrow rose ever so slightly.

"Juliet," Artemis called over to the living room, "Please turn to a news channel for the moment."

"All right." She answered, reaching for the remote.

Ame put her bowl and her glass into the sink before sinking into the couch next to the older girl.

"_I'm Sherrie standing in for your regular announcer,"_ a slightly pale woman with her brown hair in disarray was on the television, news alerts and bulletins streaming at a rapid speed on the bottom of the screen.

"_It seems that __**vampires**__, yes vampires, have been showing up all over the nation."_

Both girls shifted forward in their seats.

"_Approximately eight last night, when the lunar eclipse could been seen in the northern hemisphere near the United Kingdom, billions upon billions of people blacked out. How long people have been out varied." _

The younger girl's hands began to feel clammy, cold sweat forming in her palms. "Last night… I was out as soon as the eclipse happened. I don't remember what exactly went on before…"

"_Massive accidents on highways and roads have been reported, including at least twenty-four planes have crashed in that time period."_

"The awakening!" Juliet exclaimed, "In the chance that multiple vampires use powers at the same time, they release a force to knockout humans in the surrounding area… it seems that it affected the whole world."

"_Ever since then there are reports of people claiming to be vampires displaying strange behaviors and change in facial features and tone of skin." _

Ame turned her head just slightly to look at the now emotionless face that the boy wore, his eyes staring intently at the television screen.

"_America has already declared a red alert. At the moment countries have been frantically trying to create a census for these supposed vampires."_

"Everything is going as planned, it seems." Artemis murmured in a satisfied tone.

"_Officials have issued an alert that unaffected persons __**must**__ stay indoors at this time. Unless absolutely necessary, people must not go out of one block within their current areas. At all times, people cannot leave any area alone. Persons breaking this temporary rule will be faced with heavy charges."_

He sighed, "That won't do much," completely aware to the rising heart rate of the Japanese girl.

"_It seems that at this time there has been no issued threat from this vampire uprising. Once again, I am Sherrie and we will update you as this crisis continues."_

The phone rang. Its shrill call broke through the heavy silence. The television seemingly melded into the background.

Butler was the first to reach it. "Mr. Shiku?"

Ame leaped off the coach towards the large man, snatching he phone from him.

"Dad?!"

"_Ame? Are you at Artemis' house?"_

"Yeah! Yeah I am! After what happened last night… we decided it was safe to go back to his house because it was closest." She easily lied, a knot twisting in her gut.

"_That's really good to hear. At least I know that you're safe." _

She hesitated, "Do you want me to go back home?"

"…_I do… your brother's really worried, but I don't know if it's safe." _

"I'm sure I'll be fine." She cringed silently. A little too sure that she would be safe.

"_Well…"_ she could hear her father weighing the lesser of the two evils, _"Alright, but make it here in five minutes or I'll be worried." _

She could almost laugh. "Right, Dad. We'll be there. See you in a bit."

After turning off the phone, she glared at Artemis.

"I suppose you need escorts, judging from the look on your face?"

**xXBloody NewsXx**

By the time the group rounded the corner, they could see the figure of her father standing in the doorway. Her brother was standing closely next to him.

"You guys!" Ame cried out, running to the pair, Artemis following behind.

Juliet had begun to jog after them as Butler maintained his pace.

By the time the family had their reunion from the frightful night, she realized that the genius had already put up his façade once again, affectively tearing open the stitches on her heart.

Somehow, when no one was looking, he had put on the thick rimmed glasses and messed his hair into the familiar disarray.

Her brother, Kazuki, sat silently in the living room. He had lost his ability to see at a very young age, but that had created a very perceptive and curious mind.

"He's not the same person," the young boy stated as his father left the room.

His sister and the Butler family knew better than be shocked. She simply began to glare at Artemis.

"Course he isn't. He's a filthy liar."

A vein pulsed on his forehead, "I wouldn't characterize myself as filthy."

"But you're a freaking liar in the end." She pressed.

"You're a vampire, aren't you?" her brother interrupted before he could retort her remark.

"Certainly." Artemis wasted no time to state the utter truth.

The younger boy didn't seem to be phased by the quick answer, "You're not going to hurt Ame." This time it wasn't a question, rather a command.

For a moment no one could find the voice to speak, everyone waiting for his answer.

"…You are a very amusing child." He sounded genuinely interested.

"Thanks," Kazuki replied as coldly as nine year old could, "I didn't expect you to be able to answer that anyways."

"Like he could anymore…" Ame muttered under her breath before getting up from her brother's side.

Her glare increased, and Artemis couldn't help but stare back. "We're going up to my room." She demanded, "I need to talk to you."

"It was interesting seeing Kazuki once again." The genius said as he went up the stairs, "It's strange how a family could create such a bright child to such an idiotic elder sister."

"Shut up, you prick." She didn't bother to disguise her ire, and began to pound the stairs with each step.

As soon as they stepped into her room, she jabbed a finger at him. "You," she started, "Don't piss off my brother."

Artemis merely stared at her.

"He's a freaking mini genius. He's smart but he's _nice,_ unlike _you_." She stressed, "I'll kick the crap out of you if you annoy him."

By now her threats were being completely unheard as he pulled out a few books from her bookshelf.

She stopped to look at his suspicious behavior, "What are you doing?"

"Glossing through your selection of reading," He replied with ease, "If I remember correctly…"

A smirk stretched onto his face, "Ah… these ones. The _Twilight_ series and the manga, _Vampire Knight._"

"_OH MY GOD_!" Ame screeched, startling her father saying goodbye to the Butler siblings below in the living room.

The girl dove for them and was easily evaded. "I knew you had an interest for vampires." He mocked her, "How ironic."

Artemis began to flip through the pages rapidly, evidently speed reading as Ame began to slam her head on a desk.

"Half of this is rubbish," he stated, putting down the thick books of _Twilight_, "As with the manga, half of it is also rubbish."

She rubbed the growing bump on her forehead, "Way to crush a girl's dreams a second time… what's wrong with them?"

"Unlike what Edward Cullen states, we do not reflect sunlight," he started off.

"You're not brilliant enough to anyways," She mumbled into the wooden surface of her desk.

The genius decided to overlook her insult, "Rather, it was, and still should be, easier to hunt in the night when it is harder for humans to see. In the night time, lions hunt elephants as the night itself covers them."

Ame propped her head on her elbow, "Okay then… vampires don't shine. Lions hunt elephants in the night."

"I was using lions and elephants as a metaphor," he sarcastically pointed out.

"…I knew that." She frowned stubbornly.

He paced around the room "We aren't freezing to the touch. In fact, we are almost just like humans."

"You look cold-blooded to me." She grumbled.

"When we bite someone, we have the ability to turn people into vampires, but we don't try unless it is an absolutely required situation," Artemis once again waved off her comment, "Even then, changed humans are bound to the vampire that changed them by blood contract."

The girl began to really take note of what he was saying, "Is that what happened to Juliet and Butler?"

"They were changed and then given for me to take care of. I don't enjoy changing humans in the least bit, so I truthfully never have."

Artemis continued on, "We consume blood to regulate our circulatory system. We in truth do not have a digestive system, but our circulatory system is directly connected to our mouth. Consuming blood regularly is not necessary, but is needed in performing things that may require more energy or a higher blood count."

Ame suddenly straightened her slumped position, "Does stabbing you guys with a wooden stake ever work?"

"No. Death is the result of major blood loss among other things, but the chances of a human killing a vampire through blood loss is extremely slim," he smiled cynically, "Besides, humans are walking blood bags. Only an idiot would not consider that in a human versus vampire fight."

After a slight pause he moved on, "In _Vampire Knight_, the levels are quite similar to our government system. Though, I would find it extremely hard to believe that vampires would actually cooperate and go to a school that would have something as mundane as blood tablets as a source of food."

"There's Level E vampires that are always just crazy and bloodthirsty?" she felt strangely surprised.

"We don't have pureblood vampires are rulers and such, and humans do not eventually fall into the Level E state, but we have a pyramid system in our government." He began to list them off, "We have vampires that are similar to policemen that maintain balance in hunting, then we have government officials that work in areas similar to states, then officials of an area like a country, and then the highest court of vampires that run everyone below."

The girl was almost afraid to ask, "So… what rank are you?"

"Second high court government official," he said in what seemed like a bored tone.

"You're sure corrupt and back stabbing enough to be a politician." she almost smiled.

"I'm sure most of us have to be in order to survive, part of the government or not. At least our politicians aren't quite so wishy washy." Artemis replied.

"Hilary Clinton?"

"Certainly. Who else?"

She smiled then, strangely happy that they had a similar dislike.

Moments later she asked, "Wait… so you're not Artemis Butler… What's your real name?"

"My name?" his tone an undisguised pride.

"Artemis Fowl the Second."

* * *

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**Okay, okay, whoever likes Hilary, please no stone throwing, please? It's just a joke... like you joke about Obama... and Bush... and the rest...**

**And you all must be wondering why it's so important that Artemis announces his name... welp, you'll find out next chapter!**

**Once again, thank you for reading, and please don't forget to review! See you sometime later!**


	6. Sixth Conspiracy: M e e t i n g

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. Frankly, I don't think anyone does. But Eoin made him, so he HAD to get all the rights... I don't own Naruto either.**

**Thank you for all your reviews! To escape, yes, he DOES have a motive! Thank you for catching onto that! I hope everyone likes this chapter! Thank you for reading!**

**xXBloody MeetingXx**

Ame Shiku stared blankly at the young man standing in front of her. A few moments passed, a smug look on his face, a confused one on hers. She scratched her head. "Uh… is announcing your name so important that it had to end the chapter?"

"What?" he raised an eyebrow, "Whatever are you talking about?"

"Nevermind," she waved her hand quickly. "Useless author probably couldn't find a good stopping spot… anyways, why are you all smug looking?"

His smile turned dangerous, "If I announce my true name in front of a human, it does the following:"

Suddenly he seemed to turn into stone, standing perfectly still to the point where she couldn't decide whether he was breathing or not. His long black eyelashes were closed against his pale cheeks as he muttered something under his breath.

A bright flash enveloped the room, the girl closing her eyes immediately.

"You should open your eyes now."

Cautiously she did only to see thousands of black lines intertwining themselves across her bedroom floor in a complex circular pattern. "What the shit?!" Ame exclaimed.

Attempting to take a step forward, she felt herself freeze. The pattern glowed blue with every halted move. "What did you do?" she screeched.

"I placed a temporary 'stay' hypnosis on you. As long as the binding is still on the floor, you will remain immobile." Artemis replied with an indifferent tone.

She could only barely move her head, watching the circle seem to decrease in size, the outer black lines slowly fading.

He seemed to glide over to her, "I could do much more for much longer, but this was obviously a mere example."

"Why the crap does me finding out your name benefit you?" She could feel the hypnosis' grip lessening, her fingertips tingling, "Then wouldn't vampires always be giving out their names?"

He cupped her chin in his long fingers, a mockingly gentle smile on his face, "It creates a balance between Humans and Vampires. Access to your psyche, as well as mine. After revealing a true name, humans have a better chance against vampires, but along with that vampires will be able to take control over the individual's mind. An equal exchange."

She managed to smile, "Then wouldn't that be a bad idea? Doesn't that mean I could kick your ass after the binding dies?"

"How could you?" his gentle façade cracked into a smirk, "You obviously do not know any bindings whatsoever."

She bared her teeth in an almost comical fashion, "Why are telling me all of this? Why so much information about vampires?"

He tapped a finger against his cheek, his blue eyes flashed coldly, "Hm… I wonder…"

_Mr. Fowl!_

A voice seemed to penetrate the room, Ame whirled around as the last bit of Artemis' binding broke away and disintegrated.

_Mr. Fowl! Finally!_

A bird flew in from the window and landed on the Japanese girl's bed.

"What the-"

The bird seemed to elongate and widen, the beak becoming a nose and red lips. The brown feathers curled and waved into long blonde locks, wings into two pale arms.

Before long a tall haughty woman stood where the bird was before, shaking out her golden hair. Just like Artemis, she was absolute stunning, her steely grey eyes illuminated coldly.

"And you wonder why I prefer to think about Naruto…" Ame mocked at Artemis, "When _this_ sort of weird crap happens to me all in less than ten hours!"

The genius pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a migraine coming on-

"Mr. Fowl!" the other woman had her hands on her hips, looking furious, "I know you are of a higher rank than me, but to seriously hide your presence from the rest of the community for more than three centuries is practically an insult!"

Another big word person, Ame decided to herself, this person was definitely a coworker… if that's what you could call a vampire government.

Artemis sighed, "Miss Quembly Kaarlson, if you will, would you explain your visit with such short of a notice?"

Quembly sat down on the other girls' bed carefully, almost with distaste that did not go unnoticed by its owner. "Supposedly the first wave has been doing quite well… with no help from _you,_" she glared at him in an arrogant manner, "I was able to carry on about 70 percent of the wave in the United Kingdom single handedly-"

"Please do stop blathering about yourself and state the reason for your visit," He cut her short in an apathetic tone.

"You're very lucky that you're second in command, _Artemis_." She gripped her hands in annoyance, "If I wasn't a second rank limited…"

"Whazat mean?" Ame suddenly jumped into the conversation, pretending to ignore the death stare that was running down her back from the blonde girl.

"Mean what?" Quembly sneered, "Are you that incompetent of a blood servant to not understand a threat? Are you that enamored with your master that you fail to recognize that there may be betters out there?"

The Japanese girl's mouth hung slightly before she suddenly understood, "HOLD IT! In no way am I that bastard's blood servant. I crapping hate him." She ended her statement with crossing her arms defiantly.

At this news the older girl seemed to become amused, "Does this mean that you've allowed this human girl to retain to retain her own will?"

"She is of no importance," Artemis replied, Ame screaming indignantly, "and if you will, I'm very sure you would make an excellent high court official. Unfortunately, we can't forget about _Shaun, now, can we?"_

Quembly looked down at the old rug at the foot of the bed. "No, we can't" she grit her teeth.

"Excellent," he smirked, "Now… what was this question Ame had?"

The blonde girl looked up just slightly, startled that he had acknowledged the other girl's presence.

Ame frowned, "You're only letting me ask because it'll make me look stupider, huh?"

"Of course."

"Bastard!"

"If you continue calling me names, I'm afraid you won't get a second chance at asking questions."

"Fine," she huffed, "What's the ranks mean?"

"Ranking…" he decided to drag out his explanation longer, knowing that Quembly hated loquacious people other than people talking about her, "Is the fast way to explain where you are on the vampire pyramid government. The lowest rank would be D Rank, blood servants. Continuing on are C rank, which is the working class such as policemen and such. Third Class controls regions like states, Second class controls countries, and First rank oversees everyone else."

Quembly stood, dusting the back of her dress in a disgusted fashion. "Don't forget the elders."

"Oh them," Artemis waved his hand as if to dismiss them, "Elders are a council unto themselves of vampires that should have passed on centuries ago."

"Are they old bags or something?" Ame could barely imagine a decrepit and unglamorous looking vampire.

The genius almost cracked a small small smile, "Somewhat."

"That reminds me why I'm here," the blonde girl suddenly announced, "The elders called upon a meeting because they believed that the first wave was a failure."

Artemis murmured quietly, looking unfazed by the Elders' decision, "Really… do tell why…"

"The wave was written as a failure in the stars. Actually, they believe that this whole mission is bound to fail." The older girl sighed as she rolled her grey eyes.

"Ridiculous," he answered simply, "We haven't used star writings in more than a millennium. They're obviously incorrect."

Quembly shook her head, "They have last say on a few key things, we have no choice but to agree and go."

"We have enough time, I'm sure I'll be able to go regardless." He looked slightly peeved at the sudden change of plans.

The girl stood stone still as did Artemis moments before. Another flash appeared and a less intricate circular pattern appeared for the second time on Ame's bedroom floor. Stepping in cautiously, she began to shrink back into the form of a bird.

_I'll be on my way now, I'll be monitoring you, so don't do anything ridiculous again. _

"Oh!" Ame suddenly exclaimed, "By the way, who's Shaun?"

The bird stopped short of the window.

_He is not of your concern. _

Her voice was as sharp and cold as glass.

She flew away swiftly, almost jerkily.

"So… the stage has been set," Artemis smirked confidently.

* * *

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**So, who is Shaun exactly? What is going to happen at the meeting? What does Artemis mean? Will Ame get to read that naruto chapter she wants to read so badly?! We'll see!  
**

**Quembly is actually the creation of one of my friends. If she seems horrifically rude or Mary-Sue, keep in mind that she's supposed to be that way! (Yes! Yes it's true!)**

**Now that I think about it, Eppy didn't beta this chapter! (Sorry, I got too excited and posted it right away.) **

**Thank you for reading once again, and please don't forget to review! Reviews are my writing fuel!!**

**See you all next chapter!**


	7. Seventh Conspiracy: Intermission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. If I did, I would make a video game so that I could run him into walls for hours. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I appreciated every single one of them!  
**

**To Escape, I would have to agree. We'll see how she turns up. **

**And to "ME!!" I'm sorry, but I've always imagined Artemis as this way. **

**Now to the chapter...!**

**xXBloody IntermissionXx**

"The humans have heard…"

A sinister voice growled into the phone, low and devastating. Artemis seemed to take no notice, his face remaining as impassive as ever as he sipped his Earl Grey.

"Yes, the Elders have announced as much." He put down his cup.

"You're not _surprised?_" the incredulous voice screeched on the other end. "I would have thought you would have at least asked, 'May I ask who I am speaking to?' or something!"

The vampire could feel a migraine steadily approaching, "Ame, whether you choose to believe it or not, it was obviously your voice."

"But I tricked you last time!"

"Obviously, I am not the Artemis you were conversing with previously."

Ame stopped short." Right…" she muttered.

The silence hung over the air. Right when he was about to hang up the phone, he could hear her ask, "Do you know what the humans are proposing?"

"I do not have enough time to see what humans are rambling about these days. They ramble about many things." He replied simply, lifting the tea cup to his lips again.

She sighed loudly, "You should've. I thought that since your Old Bag Council announced it already, you would've known it all. Anyways, I was looking up the latest chapter of Naruto when my homepage popped up something disturbing… and…"

"And…?" Artemis was certainly not an especially patient person.

"I'm getting to it!" she yelled into the receiver, "Jeez… impatient people these days… Anyways, it was like headline news. Most news reporters were instructed to act like the Vampire uprising was a new epidemic…"

He couldn't help but feel a bit more smug. After all, everything was going as planned.

"…But recently they've been forced to think otherwise… maybe a few people had some nasty run ins…" Ame glared at her phone, as if her anger would reach him, "And reported them… basically, United Kingdom and US have already decided to hold a national meeting about this."

"How is this supposed to concern me in any way?"

"Well I dunno… maybe because you're a vampire yourself?! That's not it though, the census came in… and whoop de doo, the bastard is correct again. About twenty six percent of the population is vampires… they've decided to make a proposal that Vampire would leave the world unchanged for fifteen years." Ame reached over to grab a cookie from the kitchen counter, where she was sitting at.

Artemis raised an eyebrow just slightly, "Oh… the humans are much more organized this time around… when are they planning to make this proposal?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, at the meeting that pissy lady told you that you had to go to."

She chewed on her cookie as she craned her ear to listen to his silent thinking.

"Do you think it's possible for you to come over as soon as possible?"

Ame sat straight in her seat, "Eh…? But the warning is still on, but it's kind of dying out… Kazuki and I are the only ones in the house at the moment."

He poured himself another cup of tea. "I'm sure you'd be able to leave your brother in the house for about ten minutes."

"I can't do that!"

"He's a capable and intelligent child."

"But he's still a child!"

"I have the power to bind you and bring you over forcibly. Would you rather take that option?" She could almost feel him daring her to say otherwise.

"No… jeez… I'll be there in a second… can you send Juliet or someone over to watch him?"

After hanging up briskly, she leaped to the door. Before opening it, she felt someone tug at her shirt. Ame turned around to see her brother, an almost deadly calm on his face.

"Kazu-"

"Are you seeing him now?" his picture perfect calm fell away to concern.

His sister could only half laugh, "Sorry… I got myself mixed up in this more than I wanted to…"

"He never promised," the child looked down at the ground, "He never answered my question… never promised."

She gave him a hug, squeezing him tightly. "I'll be fine… I'll settle things fast, okay? Don't worry about me."

After a long pause of uncertainty, he reluctantly pulled away. "Stay safe."

xXBloody IntermissionXx

"I sent Butler over. Juliet had a few things to take care of here." Artemis answered her unspoken question as she entered through the doorway.

Ame scanned the room, finding it hard to believe that just three nights ago, this didn't belong to Artemis Fowl, but Artemis her childhood friend.

Everything stayed exactly the same. The books were perfectly shelved as always, but the feeling that permeating the room was unmistakably Artemis Fowl.

He looked up from his desk. "Whatever are you gawping at?"

"Nothin' you should ask about. You don't deserve to anyways, ass. Not after making me leave my brother back at the house." Her expression turned instantly sour. "What did you want me for anyways?"

Artemis blinked at her before making a sheepish face, "Interestingly enough, I have forgotten…"

"You gotta be crappin me… I could MURDER you right now!" She raised her hands like claws.

"Of course not. I have no time to deal with you at the moment, so please wait until I can call you in." He waved at the door.

Her eyes seemed to explode into fire, "What the HELL. You can't do this to me! We're not in some damn office setting, and you're not my boss! You can't make me!"

Suddenly he turned to look at her, making her stop as a feeling that could be called fear bubbled in her chest. His pale skin, like the moon, seemed to illuminate even in the broad daylight. His eyes were as cold as ice.

Even as her own charcoal eyes couldn't look away, locked in his gaze out of fear, she could feel something push at her, farther and farther out of his room until she was in the hallway. Before she could regain her senses, the bedroom door shut firmly.

Her ire returned, and as she was about to pound on his door, she heard someone cry out, "Ame! Ame! Can you help me?"

Juliet stood at the foot of the stairs, wiping away sweat. "I really need help with this. Master Artemis sent away Butler, so I had to do it by myself for awhile. Could you help?"

xXBloody IntermissionXx

"So… You've been shingling the roof by yourself for about half an hour now?" Ame stood on the roof of the two story house, peering around to look for her own.

Juliet wrung her hands angrily," Yeah! Stupid Artemis! I have a wrestling match to catch! He made it even worse by asking Butler to go over to your house, not like it's your fault."

"I don't understand why you're even doing this in the first place," She knelt to look at the roof, "It seems fine to me."

The blonde sighed, "Yeah, but supposedly these keep out people that he doesn't want to come in."

The other girl squinted harder, seeing faint circular patterns cut into the roof. She nodded as if she understood. "Can you pass me a hammer then? I'll help you. He can be such an asshole most of the time…"

Juliet's face brightened as she reached over to the tool, accidentally kicking it into the rain gutter.

"Aw crap… lemmie get that… for now, just start placing the tiles on the sealant."

Ame only succeeded to stare blankly, "Eh…? What am I supposed to do?"

She turned around to point out what the Japanese girl was supposed to do, side stepping just a little bit.

A bright flash, so quick that you would have only seen it for a millisecond, engulfed Juliet. She shrieked once, just long enough for Ame to whirl around and see Juliet disappear below.

"What the crap?!" she dove over to the side, frantically calling out the other girl's name. She couldn't be sure, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see one of the circles on the roof glow before dying out.

A binding had attacked Juliet?

Without a second thought, she climbed down the ladder to see Juliet on the ground, obviously unconscious from the fall.

"Oh dear… now isn't this troublesome?" Ame could almost feel her heart sink to her stomach as she heard the low voice behind her.

She cradled Juliet's leg that was twisting in a more than peculiar fashion. Artemis was standing above both of them, blocking out the sunlight from their direction.

He picked up the fallen girl swiftly, striding over to the entrance of the house.

Once inside, Artemis sat on the lounge chair across the two girls, a sufficiently surprised look on Ame's face.

"A broken leg? Do vampires get broken legs?" She turned to pat Juliet's golden hair gently, the older girl breathing shallowly.

The genius looked like he was in thought for a moment. "From the sort of fall she experienced, any normal human would have snapped like a twig. I'm very sure that Juliet did much better than that."

The Japanese girl shifted her eyes nervously. "Is she going to heal by herself then?"

Personally she felt responsible. If she hadn't asked Juliet to get the hammer in the first place, she would have never fallen.

"No."

"How can you say that so simply?" her irritation welled up again, "Can't we do anything about it?"

"Currently, she does not have a sufficient blood count for healing large scale injuries…" Artemis began to pinch the bridge of his nose, "…unless she consumes blood…"

"I can do it then!" Her face lit up.

He smirked at her, "I would be glad to do that."

"Whuh?" She drew back, a disgusted looking her face, "Why do you look so happy?"

"This is the meaning of a Blood Servant. Until a servant is released by their master, they are not allowed to feed on their own. They draw their power from their masters. This is one of the main points of a Blood Servant contract." Artemis rose and stepped closer.

Her face twitched, "That means…"

"I will feed from _you_."

She had no idea when it happened, but suddenly he was much closer than before. A pale hand had tilted her neck, exposing itself on one side. His mouth hovered only mere centimeters away from her veins. Out of her peripheral vision, she was very sure his mouth was opened, exposing two glistening fangs.

All thought process seemed to shut down. Time itself slowed as her goose bumps slowly rose once again, his breath on her cheek.

"Is that what you have decided?"

Once again, his voice was unbearably and hauntingly low, dark foreboding. It seemed to roll off of him in waves and down her spine.

Her hands were clenched tightly together in her lap as he slowly lowered her body into an almost lying position, supported by his arm. He almost torturously licked the column of her neck, alerting every nerve in her body in heightened senses.

_Stay safe, Ame. He didn't promise… _

The dark that was quickly engulfing her was now seen. His fangs were pressed precariously on her skin that now felt paper thin. He was holding her in an almost possessive like embrace, one arm around her, the other in her hair, brushing it away and tilting her neck for better access.

"No…" her voice came out shaken again, like she had been drowning.

She had been drowning, not in water, but she was certainly drowning.

Ame pushed at him weakly, making him momentarily stop his movements.

"No… I have not… decided…this."

In a moment's notice he had flipped her back into sitting position, the cold egotistical smile set once again on his agonizingly handsome features.

She pressed her hand gently against her throat, hardly able to comprehend what had just taken place, her breath still erratic.

Artemis looked at her with his cold blue gaze. "It's a shame that you have refused. That leaves me with no choice."

"What?!" She clasped her neck with both hands, as if preparing for impact.

"You…" He leaned closer to her face once again, "Will just have to accompany me to the meeting…"

"…As Juliet."

_WHAT?!_

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**To all my lovely confused readers that picked up when Artemis told Ame that he "forgot what he was saying." He essentially did that to stall until Juliet would come into the house and ask Ame for help. Yes, he DID bind Juliet to fall. Why? Because he needed Ame at the meeting. **

**Once again, "WHY?"**

**Well... we'll find out soon...**

**Thank you for reading all of you! Please review! (reviews are my writing food!) **

**Until next time! **


	8. Eighth Conspiracy: A c c u s a t i o n s

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

**Sorry for the long wait! I'm back you guys! It took awhile, so I made this chapter kinda long! Thank you so much for all of your reviews!**

**xXAccusationsXx**

Artemis looked at her, his eyes serious and dark.

"Are you ready?"

Ame pinched her face in disapproval, "Whatever."

"This isn't trivial," he told her, irritated, "By doing this, you become a part of me, and I of you."

"That sounds really disgusting… let's just get it over with." She folded her arms.

In front of them was a knife, gleaming in the afternoon sun. He picked up the knife first without hesitation. Bringing the weapon up to the juncture of his pale left arm, he slit it open with an apathetic look. Blood that seemed almost bright red against the white of his skin rolled of the side of his arm and into a cup filled with water, diffusing in a strange smoky pattern.

He pressed his two right fingers against the cut, a small binding glowed before the cut was sealed. Artemis turned to look pointedly at the Japanese girl, her face changing into the same color as his skin with each passing moment. "It just doesn't seem right to slit my wrist out of my own will."

She muttered her complaints as she picked up the knife slowly. Earlier they had decided which place was easiest to cut and retrieve blood on each of them, making Ame feel like she was an emo talk session. Regardless, slitting her wrist made her feel more suicidal than necessary. She tentatively put the blade upon her skin, absentmindedly noticing that her fingers were twitching and shaking just slightly from fear.

"If you are going to try to cut your wrist with such a shaking hand, the wound may become life threatening." Artemis sighed, his well of patience running quickly dry.

In a split second he had grabbed the knife with one hand and her wrist with another. "I never thought you would be afraid of something so utterly simple," He commented dryly, "You talk big… just like a small dog."

"Bastard!" her face already heated with anger, "It's one thing to fall down and give yourself a big ol' cut, it's another to just go and make one on purpose."

He ignored her insults and excuses. "You do it precisely and quickly…Like so."

Before she could blink she could feel something almost like a prick. Her eyes snapped downwards at her wrist, the blood rolling off and into the same cup.

She looked upwards to see Artemis' eyes locked onto the remaining crimson seeping out of the wound. "Well?" Ame asked nervously, "Could you seal it up?"

Without a sound he lifted her arm upwards to his mouth. This time she reacted faster, trying to pull away from his iron grip. He leaned downwards, his tongue lapping up the droplets. His black hair brushed gently against her arm as he licked off the trail of blood that rolled away from the cut.

A few breathless seconds passed, and he lifted his head, showing that her wrist was now completely healed. Artemis dropped her hand, his tongue swiping the edge of the knife.

"Was my blood _that_ wonderful?" She managed to say sarcastically.

He took a moment to answer her. "It was sufficient, obviously not the best, but the first meal in quite awhile."

Ame grimaced before turning her attention back to the cup, the red liquid swirling around in cloudlike patterns.

"What do we do with this again?"

He set the knife on the counter, "We drink it."

"…Why?" She bared her teeth, her expression beyond disgusted.

"Vampires don't care as much what a blood servant looks like." Artemis picked up the glass cup, "As long as they can detect the two different scents of blood on each of us, then not a single official will notice anything different."

He passed the cup to her and she took it gingerly. "How much of this do I have to swallow?"

"A sip will be quite enough, just remember that my blood will probably have some side effects."

She stopped short of bringing it fully to her mouth, "I'm not going to fall on the ground and start writhing in agony, right?"

"Nothing of the sort."

The girl tilted the cup up quickly and then back down, roughly handing it back to him

He looked at her with a bemused look on his face, "It seems that my theory was correct."

"What?" Her eyes widened in panic, "What happened?"

"All outer flaws like scars have disappeared, your internal organs must be running at a better rate than the first day you were born." He took his time drinking the rest of the diluted blood, "This is what vampire blood can do to humans… interesting…"

Ame took the liberty to turn around and quickly stick her arm under her shirt, running her fingers up and down where a massive scar should have been. Her side was smooth and almost unfamiliar… the incident had happened such a long time ago.

"Can I eat all the junk food I want and not gain wait then?" Her eyes gleamed at the prospect.

Artemis almost looked irritated, "Theoretically"

She sprinted towards the kitchen, grabbing the first thing covered in oil that she could find.

"We don't have the time for your to binge, unfortunately." He commented as she shoved chips into her mouth gleefully.

She stopped, "Oh yeah… the meeting… okay, how are we going to get there?"

"I have set up all bindings to restrict your family from noticing your leave. The breaking time is 72 hours from now."

"Why can't people just say three days?"

He looked at her, his eyebrow twitched. "It conveys accuracy"

"Whatever." She already lost her attention span.

She dragged a chair from the dining room to find Artemis making several circles on the living room floor with the knife they had used earlier.

Ame tilted her head sideways, "That's going to come out, right? I would hate to see such beautiful hardwood ruined."

He ignored her comment. "Just stand in the center with me, we have no time to make idle banter."

"Where's Butler?"

"He will be missing the meeting because he is taking care of Juliet."

She shrugged, hopping over.

Immediately the bindings began to glow with an eerie blue light, similar to the color of his eyes.

Shutting her eyes for only just a moment from the light, she opened them to see herself in front of a massive building, news reporters swarming them instantly.

One Ame recognized faintly as Sherrie shoved a microphone towards them, narrowly missing her forehead by mere inches.

"I'm Sherrie for C-4 News Channel. A vampire has just arrived at the front of the designated building. What is this meeting about sir?"

"Move." His eyes grew dark.

Not a single flashing camera or shouting voice budged.

Ame started to shout over the crowd, "Ah… when he uses one word he's pretty pissed… you all better back-"

Instantly a wide circle appeared on the ground, blowing reporters and several wigs into the air and back a few dozen feet away.

"Told you ALL so!" She pointed at the people scrambling for their hair pieces.

The crowd parted like a wave as Artemis continued walking, their mouths and cameras refused to work as the binding moved under his feet.

Once inside the immense door slammed shut, hazy light filtered into the ornate room.

The girl couldn't help but look amazed. "Where is this place?"

"The Fowl manor." He replied smugly.

"Shouldn't of asked." She muttered to herself.

Someone giggled at the end of the hallway, "My, my! Doesn't Juliet look different!"

A girl that looked no older than eight years old emerged from the darkness, holding a mirror in her hand. Her long red hair waved down her back.

"Miss Short," Artemis replied curtly.

Ame frowned, "Wait! She looks a lot like Holly Short… from the volleyball team our school competed with a few weeks ago."

"She is of a kind called doppelgangers, essentially an immortal soul split from the original that never ages."

Holly laughed, "Holls had a traumatic experience a few years back… and then I was born."

"This is beyond weird." The Japanese girl groaned under her breath.

"Legend has it that if Holls were to ever meet me, she might die." The little girl giggled, "Who knows?"

The mirror winked in the dim light. "Miss Short uses a mirror as she is a doppelganger instead of bindings." Artemis explained.

"Enough about me," she laughed, sitting an ornate green chair that succeeded in making her look even tinier, "Juliet seems to have had a massive attitude adjustment."

"Could you… explain what doppelgangers are exactly first?" Ame attempted to avoid the question.

He walked over to a large sofa. "In the chance that a person has a traumatic experience, witnessing a loved one's death, nearly experiencing their own death, et cetera, there is about 15 percent chance that a part of their soul will be split."

She frowned, still not understanding.

"When a person says that they feel themselves leave their body, or their life seems to replay in front of their eyes, it is their soul splitting," Artemis sat beside Holly, "The replay is basically programming the split with the subject's memories. Afterwards, the split will travel sometimes even continents away."

The red head smoothed out her frilly black skirt, "Most doppelgangers die from starvation right away… but there is a small percentage that if they want to live, they can find their means through mirror arts to become immortal."

"You are kind of like… a living soul?"

Holly scooted herself off the chair and took the taller girl by the hand, her small little hand barely able to wrap around the other's. "Some what…" She giggled again, "But I would like know what's happened with you the past few years."

Ame shot the genius a look.

_I thought you said that no one would know the difference!_

He watched as the smaller girl cautiously began to tilt the mirror upwards to Ame's face. He stood up, ready to stride over and make an excuse.

"Mr. Fowl! Do you intend to delay us any longer?" a familiar indignant voice called out angrily.

Quembly walked over, stopping to see the black haired girl. She smiled wryly, "I thought you said she was 'nothing of importance.'"

Artemis' face was stone cold, he took Ame by the hand, "Lead her to the room first, I will come in a moment."

The blonde huffed as she walked briskly away without a word, the shorter girl running afterwards with a peeved look on her face.

Silence fell over the two remaining people in the room. Somewhere far away, a grandfather clock ticked without anyone's notice.

"You are close to me, Miss Short. One of only a mere half of a handful that I consider in the realm of the word 'friend.'" He stared straight ahead, avoiding Holly all together, "Please do not question my motives."

The girl fingered the intricate circular pattern that wove around the mirror. "I have lived on this earth for only eight years, I suppose I cannot interfere with such dead set plans. But Artemis, I am not a true ancestor. Not a real vampire."

She stopped, trying to judge the look on his face to only find indifference.

"I drink blood in order to survive, but I am of the lucky few that know a doppelganger's mirror arts." Holly suddenly grabbed him on the shoulder, forcing him to look at her, her hazel eyes glowed with liquid confidence, "But I am not a vampire, and with my mirror, I can see what you do much clearer than the rest. You time your attacks very well, Mr. Fowl."

The grandfather clock's voice was heard now, clicking away obediently to his job to Father time.

His face remained emotionless for only just a moment before his mouth curled into a smirk. "Very well Miss Short, once again you have proved worthy of my respect for you."

The child-like girl curtsied mockingly before she gave him her last words, "Remember Arty dear, the words I speak are not in jest."

"Understandably," He offered his hand and she took it gently, "Shall we proceed to the future of this tiny world?"

**xXAccusationsXx**

The two girls entered quickly, a few people nodding in respect.

"Miss Karlsson, your seat is right there." An old man ushered Quembly over to a section.

Ame watched as the same man returned. "A servant of the second Mr. Fowl? You will sit here…"

He pointed towards the opposite end of the room where lavishly carved chairs stood. She counted four chairs, several smaller ones surrounding the original four.

The whole room itself was silent except for the ushers and her own footsteps. As soon as she seated herself in one of the smaller chairs, quiet clamor was heard. She craned her neck to look at one of the entrances.

Artemis and Holly had just walked in, every eye on the two. She heard a soft voice whisper that that two of the high court officials have arrived. He moved across the room like he was gliding, Holly skipping a long with a dangerous smile on her face.

He spotted her quickly. "I see that you have arrived." The genius sat down in the second chair as Holly took the fourth.

"Surprised that I'm a high official, Julie?" the girl giggled, "I'm quite talented in mirror arts."

Soon a vampire with slightly darker skin from the rest and silver hair strode over, stopping to chat with Holly, a small smile on her face. Assorted knives and daggers were strung on her belt, two swords criss-crossing on her back.

Artemis leaned closer to Ame, "That is Vinyáya, the third high official. She specializes in close combat and the blood arts. Blood arts produce massive bindings quickly, but are only done so if you use a small amount of your blood. This makes it risky in a way."

Holly looked happier than before, talking almost animatedly. Ame concluded that the two must have been good friends.

Suddenly every noise, scuffle, or even a cough became silent. The ushers stood respectfully, their heads bowed downwards.

An older gentlemen had just entered the room. She looked around to see everyone's heads lowered respectfully except for Artemis. He on the other hand, stared honestly onwards to the man. The man had black hair just like him, and warm blue eyes. Behind him stood a slender brown haired lady, her arm curled around his.

"Arty!" The woman called out happily, walking lightly over to the young man and grabbing him into a fierce hug.

An unknowing usher frantically asked her to release him, only to receive a glare. "Can't a woman hug her own son? I know I'm only a second class but he's still my Arty!"

"Mother…" Artemis managed to choke out as the older man approached him, a smile growing on his slight wrinkles by the second.

The ice seemed to melt and the room returned to its quiet scuffling. The two took their seats, Artemis' mother in a smaller chair similar to Ame's, the other man in the last decorated chair.

The genius suddenly smiled the kindest smile the girl had ever seen on his face. "Father," he started, "It's been quite awhile. I trust you and Mother have been doing well."

"Angeline and I have been getting along fine. How have you been doing with the Butlers?" His laugh was infectious, almost a complete opposite of his son.

"He's your dad!" Ame exclaimed without much thought, "Then I bet he's the biggest one around here, that's why everyone stopped talking!"

"Now this is certainly not Juliet! Who's this dear?" Angeline seemed completely in element among the crowds of other immortals.

Artemis looked at his father, his father noticed the look and patted his wife on the shoulder, shaking his head. It was almost as if he was saying, _don't ask this time around._ She caught on, nodding. "It's alright! I'd like to get to know such a cutie anyways."

The girl felt almost a sense of relief, at least there were some normal, kind sounding vampires out there. She stole a glance at Quembly, that seemed to have been stealing glances at her. The grey eyed girl sniffed, turning her head away.

She frowned, turning around to catch a few words that Artemis spoke in a low voice.

"-yet?"

Fowl Senior nodded, "He'll be here soon, he's been sitting up in his room the whole day doing who knows what."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Holly dear! Vin dear!" The two ladies and girl conversed happily.

Ame couldn't help but feel a little strange. It seemed like the meeting had only become a reunion of sorts.

An usher called out in a grand voice, "The humans have arrived. Silence shall commence."

Every vampire sat back into their chairs, watching the door expectantly. Just watching this made Ame straighten her own back.

One by one middle aged men filed into the room. She noticed them faintly as the President of the United States, Prime Minister of Japan, United Kingdom, and so on.

"Artemis Fowl the First," another usher called out.

Mr. Fowl rose, bowing cordially.

"Artemis Fowl the Second."

This time Artemis rose, bowing with an air of superiority, as if he was mocking them.

"Vinyáya"

The silver haired woman rose and bowed in silence.

"And Holly Short."

Holly curtseyed, a charming smile on her face.

"Stop!"

Every vampire, immortal, and doppelganger turned. A human had been the one that cried out. He stood prominently, sweat rolling off his forehead.

He pointed at Artemis, whose eyebrows raised in amusement.

Almost instantaneously everyone pulled out their weapons, hundreds of bindings appeared under the man's feet, glowing dangerously.

Vinyáya pulled out several daggers as the red head lifted her mirror upwards, the surface rippling.

"You… murderer…" he finally grinded out from between his teeth.

Several laughs were heard, including Quembly's

The blonde sighed, "We're all murderers if you look at it, darling."

The man waved his hands violently, "That's not what I meant!"

His breath was shallow and quick.

"Artemis Fowl the Second!"

The genius folded his hands almost expectantly, as if he was just daring the politician to speak once more.

"He murdered a little girl! Last night! There is no mistake!"

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**The plot is finally kicking in! Thanks for staying with me! Things will be a bit hectic from now on... I'm pretty glad I was able to introduce Vinyaya, Holly, and Artemis' parents back into the scene... as for this person Artemis was asking for, I'm sure all of you know who he is... **

**If people are still confused about Holly, This isn't the real Holly but the doppelganger. the "real" Holly Short will come into the story sometime later on.**

**Thank you so much for reading, and please review! Reviews are my writing food. **


	9. Ninth Conspiracy: C h a l l e n g e

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. If I did, I would have run down the street screaming for about two weeks... then died.**

**Hey I'm back you guys! Thanks so much for your reviews and reading this! The story is starting to pick up, so don't fall behind! Just an important note, I introduce Myles into the story this chapter. I'm sure most of us don't know how he really acts, so this is my idea of his character. **

**xXChallengeXx**

Ame almost leaped out of her chair, but the atmosphere had become unbearably heavy. The room had become deadly silent. Everyone was out of their seats in various stances, looking like cold beautiful statues posed to strike.

"You exaggerated the story a tad bit, Mr. Prime Minister." Artemis was still sitting in his seat, a confident king on his throne.

The Japanese girl's eyes widened. He had said earlier that he didn't care all too much about human affairs… did that really mean that he…?

The man continued on, "What are you talking about? You murdered a girl last night!"

"You also attempted to draw sympathy from the rest of your humans, as assuredly, you will get nothing from us," the more he spoke, the more frighteningly cold his voice became, "You said that this was a _little_ girl, did you not?"

"This doesn't change the fact that you killed her!"

"Oh… but this is a psychological thing, my dear human. You used 'little' make the whole murder sound worse. Tell me, how old is this girl?" Artemis lifted his hand outwards, as if he wanted to be given something.

"Opal Koboi was sixteen years old." The man didn't falter, a grave look on his face.

"She's older than me!" All eyes turned onto Ame, who had blurted out her thoughts.

Quembly took over, "Sixteen? Two years from adulthood? All of you men look like children to me, but sixteen is certainly not little."

"This fact doesn't matter. I merely pointed out the flaw for clarification." Artemis smirked, "Please tell me how she died."

"She was brutally beaten, and then shot in the head." He looked around expectantly.

Most immortals had regained their casual positions, every face unfazed.

Ame felt irritation build up, "What are you waiting for? A gasp in horror? Don't be stupid, I saw a guy get shot in the head and strangled by the time I was thirteen in a movie. These guys have been living for thousands of years, what do you think that's going to do?"

A few quiet laughs were heard.

"She's right, Mr. Prime Minister," Holly giggled, "She's a little outspoken for a servant, but it's good in this case. I'm sure we've all seen one brutal death at some point in our long lives. Humans are so temporary."

His eyes widened. "So no one cares?"

"We are concerned, actually. Charging a high court official is very dangerous. If we find that your charge is wrong, it would mean instant death. We are concerned for _you._" Vinyaya mocked him.

"Was there blood in her body still?" Ame pressed.

"Yes… there was."

She scoffed, running her hands through her black hair, "I'm still human, and even I think you're being stupid. Vampire's aren't _monsters_, they don't kill without a reason, and they kill to _feed._ And why the crap would Artemis use a gun?"

A soft click was heard, and then the creaking of the old wooden door. The tense atmosphere seemed to lessen, a bit of it escaping out the door.

A young man with unruly black hair and blue eyes looked around, and in return the whole room looked at him.

He scratched the back of his head while laughing sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I'm late, aren't I?"

For one split second she thought she saw the old Artemis walk in, the Artemis she grew up with, the Artemis she stuck a bug up his nose when they were nine.

"Myles?" Artemis looked pleased.

The spell was broken, Ame watched the late comer stride over.

He looked endearingly happy, "Artemis! Brother! It's been awhile!"

"Does no one _care about the girl?_" They all remembered the man in annoyance, gradually turning their attention back to him.

The genius reverted to his previous state. "This matter is not what we came here to discuss, if you wish, I will talk with you about this later on."

The humans sitting behind the accusing man were sweating bullets, looking at the ground as he finally sat back down, his face ashen white.

The rest of the meeting went surprisingly well, the Prime Minister of UK presented the "Fifteen Years Contract," hoping that the Vampires would keep the world unchanged for at least fifteen more years.

To the men, this was extremely important, the fate of the world in their hands, but to the immortals, this was completely trivial, like watching someone sweat over cutting a cake.

The high court officials decided to pretend to think over the contract, saying that they will answer within one month.

It all took about three hours maximum, in which more than 90 percent of the time Ame wish she had brought some manga with her to read.

The four officials filed out first, Holly grabbing onto the girls arm, talking about various things.

Artemis stood in the hallway, chatting with his brother. It seemed that whenever he was with his family was when he was the most kind. The red head said her goodbyes to "Julie" and walked out with Vinyaya.

Myles was talking happily, waving his arms around, no doubt talking about something massive. As she walked towards the two, the both noticed. The boy's smiled softened.

Artemis looked at him, they both exchanged glances before he spoke. "Who's this?"

"Her name is Ame, she was standing in for Juliet as she unfortunately broke her leg a few days before."

"Ahh…" he smiled widely, "Nice to meet you!"

She made a suspicious face, "You two act completely different… are you sure you didn't do any plastic surgery to look like relatives?"

The genius opened his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by Ame, waving her hands frantically.

"Wait, never mind… Artemis' parents are nice, you're nice… maybe HE'S the one that did plastic surgery!" she grinned, happy with her theory.

His eyebrow twitched as his brother laughed. "I'm sure that isn't the case-"

"I always knew your face was too perfect!"

"Too perfect?" Artemis smirked, "Please explain, as no face can be perfect."

She made a face, as if she had just puked up something awful. "SHUT UP!"

"Ah-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT! UP!"

Ame took a deep breath, her hands clenched at her sides.

"He wasn't saying anything…" Myles stated, the grin still plastered on his face.

Her face became red, roaring, "I KNOW!"

"Um… Mr. Fowl…" an usher coughed.

He turned around, nodding.

"The Prime Minister of Italy will like to speak to you now."

"Very well," He sighed, "Ame, come with me."

They said goodbye to the younger of the Fowl boys, Myles promising that he would see them again soon.

The meeting hall was empty except for the Prime Minister and a few scattered ambassadors.

"Foolish Prime Minister," Artemis greeted, Ame sticking her tongue out at him also.

The man didn't seem affected, evidently feeling that he had power in numbers. "You know very well what you did just last night."

"I know very well what the situation is," he replied, "Opal Koboi, sixteen years old, was murdered in her family apartment. She had been beaten before shot in the head."

"Of course you would know all of those," the man pushed on, "Because you killed her!"

The merely stood for a moment, watching each other.

He smoothed out his dark brown hair before shrugging, "I am in a nice mood today, if you admit to your crime, your charges will not be harsh."

"Why are you being so damn insistent?" She stomped her foot, a few people jumping in their chairs.

"I'm telling you, I'm sure he did it!"

"Why? Do you have evidence? A motive?"

He stopped, looking a bit set back.

She folded her arms, smiling, "See? I know why. I bet you were against this contract in the first place, you wanted to put blame on someone to stir up trouble."

"This will be very damaging to your career if her words are proven correct." A slow smirk forming on Artemis' lips.

Suddenly the prime minister shook his head, "I have evidence! I remember now!"

"What kinda bullshit are you pulling?!" Her face turning demonic from irritation.

"The fable… the first human to kill a vampire!"

"_So… this crazy lady goes up and kills the vampire… that's why we need to celebrate this folklore?" _

Ame took a step back herself. "The school project…" she whispered.

The man continued, his voice sounded like it was at the end of a long hallway, echoing forever.

"It was everywhere in their home… if our guesses are correct…"

It was sudden, and it hit her hard. She had been going along with everything that had been thrown at her the past few weeks… the folklore finally snapped her attention back into the correct path.

She could keep going on as if everything was perfectly fine… but it wasn't.

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear it!" she lashed out.

Artemis shook his head, "Ame, please don't-"

"I swear," she muttered, "I don't know who this person is… I don't… but I swear… He didn't kill her! He never would!"

"How can you be so sure?" the man sneered.

"Because I swear it on my own life, if I don't find out who the real killer is by the day of the signing, I'll let myself be the first meal for the vampires… even Artemis that you hate oh so much!"

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**So it begins! Ame's long fight to determine the real killer! If you didn't read the note above, when I introduced Myle's character, I still don't know how he acts. (Since the Time Paradox books hasn't been released yet) This is just an idea of how he acts. True to my name (I think...) this story gets really twisted later on, so I hope you stay on board! **

**Please review people! I take the time to read every single one of them and I love them all very much. (I might start replying to them) I like hearing what people want to say about Bloody Conspiracy, so if it's even criticism, drop it in and I'll thank you for trying to improve my story.  
More reviews means faster updates!  
**


	10. Tenth Conspiracy: I n v e r s i o n

**I'm back you guys! So sorry for the long wait! (I didn't necessarily have a mental block... but... more like no inspiration?) Over the "break" I was able to create a NEW plot. (Don't worry, everything will continue the way it is... you won't even notice. XD) So look forward to that you guys! Anyways, I didn't have time to write replies to reviews, I'm putting this up hurriedly before I leave to go somewhere so... enjoy!**

**xXInversionXx**

He walked down the gently lit hallway, his shoes clicking just a little bit on the hardwood floor. At the far end Ame sat on a chair by herself, mumbling quietly.

The truth was that she didn't know what she had just done. She didn't know what she had been doing the past two weeks. Lying to her father and her brother, traveling to far off places… wouldn't any normal human being be at least perplexed if not terrified?

She decided to conclude that she was trying to push her real problems into the back of her mind. Her real problem pertaining to the "death" of her friend.

Artemis Butler.

It was too painful for her to think about. That some bastard vampire had been him all along. Rather, a vampire seemed to have killed him and took his body.

When the prime minister mentioned the folklore… the very same one that she had been working on before she was swept away in all the madness, a switch clicked inside of her. Somehow, she figured that whether Artemis was Fowl or Butler, they were the same person inside. Because of this, he would not have killed Opal.

Maybe it was a last act of acknowledging his existence. The last time she'd try to protect the old him.

She stared blankly at the Fowl family portrait at the opposite wall. Myles and his parents were smiling brilliantly, and as expected, Artemis had his retrained look of composure. Then she sat straighter… who was…

Artemis appeared suddenly in front of her, blocking her view. "What were you thinking?"

His voice was quiet. Ame shook her head shrugging, "I don't know…"

She did know, but she was completely unwilling to tell him. "Who's the other guy in that picture behind you?"

"He is my other brother, Beckett Fowl. Myles is his twin brother." Now his voice was just a whisper.

Ame nodded, staring steadily on as he shifted his weight, crossing his arms.

"What's going to happen now?" Her hands were limp in her lap, the palms facing upwards.

He smirked, but didn't look all too happy, "For the first time, I would have to say that I don't quite know. Pray tell what you are going to do."

She slumped into the chair, looking dejected while making a garbled noise. The many many thoughts in her mind were spinning and screaming in unison, making it beyond confusing to think coherently.

"That's surprising."

They turned to look a Quembly, a hard set frown on her porcelain features. "What do you think is going to happen now, Ame? You'll keep your promise. What's so confusing about it?"

The Japanese girl blinked slowly. Her mind yelled out that it was a lot more complicated than they thought… but…

"Okay then," she stood up, "I'll do it. I'll find the real killer."

Artemis looked smug, "As I thought. Wonderful."

"What?" she twitched.

"Self-admittance is much better than asking." He answered matter-of-factly, "We will proceed with the second phase of our hunt."

Her face became demonic, "You lied to me! I thought you said you didn't know! You lied! You wanted me to say it!"

He ignored her, smoothly turning to the blonde girl, "Miss Karlsson, may I speak to you about a few circumstances?"

They quickly walked away from the flabbergasted Ame, leaving her to fume for a few minutes. She huffed angrily, slumping back into the chair. Muted footsteps were heard, more like a scuffling.

"Ame?"

She turned to see Myles approach her with a slightly concerned face. Out of the corner of her eye, a fleeting illusion of a figure in a white dress quickly ran back to the end of the hallway. Shrugging it off, she greeted him with a half-hearted smile.

He returned it with a happier grin, "Is something the matter?"

Ame's eyes flicked to his face and back into her lap, "I feel like I did something really stupid. I can't believe I blurted all of that junk out."

"Don't worry, I'm sure if it's for Artemis everything will work out in the end." He patted her on the head.

She looked at him, a blank look on her face. The patting was strangely soothing, though no one had done such a thing to her before.

He pulled away suddenly, puzzlement in his eyes, "I'm sorry, that was just a bit unconscious…"

"It's… alright…?" She couldn't really answer with a definite tone. "Hey, uh… could you help me find where Artemis is? He's talking to Quembly… do you know where his office is?"

Myles appeared to think for a moment before nodding, silently asking her to follow him. The girl rose from her chair, watching as he seemed to wait cautiously before leading the way.

After walking down the same hallway for a few yards, they turned into a small archway that led into a second hallway, once again filled with hazy light from the tall windows. It seemed that this was one of the hallways that was closest to the outside part of the manor. For what seemed to be yards on end were windows.

She frowned slightly, remembering that the day was brighter than the light that filtered in. It seemed as if the light just couldn't reach in far enough.

By the time she had stopped wondering about the strange phenomenon, Myles had opened a door, ushering her in.

The room was peculiar in its design and its color. Lined on two walls were shelves and shelves of books. Across the entrance was a large stained glass design, under it a dusty grand piano. The walls were painted an orange butterscotch color, like the sunset, and the carpet was a light purple.

Artemis was nowhere to be seen, so Ame gave in a peculiar look. Myles looked like was suddenly snapped out of a trance, looking sheepish. "Sorry, he seems to not be here… lemmie go get him, okay? Stay here… as long as you don't break anything."

She gave him a crooked smile. He closed the heavy wooden door as Ame turned to look at the stained glass windows with interest.

It was same here like anywhere, dusty, hazy light. Muted and quiet, the room was almost like its own universe, the silence almost became noise.

Behind the piano was a half covered portrait, she strode over to it, curiosity getting the best of her. The picture was a painting of someone's face, only the smile and the pale neck were seen from under the drape.

For some reason, the smile felt eerily familiar. She closed her eyes, but the feeling refused to stop. Something was disturbingly wrong.

The girl reached out to yank the cloth off, but the door banged open. She made a small yelp, seeing Artemis glide over to her, his face stone cold.

"Hey…" Ame looked at him nervously, "Myles brought me here when he was looking for you… is everything okay?"

"Yes…" His voice trailed off, his blue eyes looked dark.

She tried to shake off the strange feeling everything was giving her. "This is a pretty awesome room… never knew there could be so many books crammed into a little place."

"We'll talk about this later," the genius abruptly took her wrist, guiding her out of the room and into the hallway.

He dragged her down the hallway, windows almost blurring in their hurry. They took a sharp turn back into the second hallway with the Fowl family portrait.

"Hey…" She breathed, suddenly feeling dizzy.

He seemed to pay no attention, walking steadily on.

Suddenly she tripped. Quickly, she tried to brace herself on something but her fingers only met the cool smooth feeling of a mirror on the wall.

It was only for a second, but the vision of the half covered face flashed in her mind, the smile growing smaller. Broken fractions of pictures of empty looking eyes and small pale hands… a red ribbon, filled her mind.

She felt her knees hit the ground with a dull crack against the hardwood, falling over without struggling. Even though her brain was working at what felt like light speed, her body was unwilling to move.

Hazily she saw two slender fingers close her eyes. A low velvet voice muttering like reciting a spell.

_Sleep._

* * *

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**If anyone is about to ask, _no_, Myles is not falling for Ame. (Just in case someone does ask.) This chapter was chock full of hints, clues, and foreshadowing! There was also two crossover-like situations. One major one and one smaller one... cookies and neutrino guns to those who figured it out! Give me your guesses on the hints, clues, foreshadowing, and crossovers, I really want to hear from you guys! **

**Until next time! (Which will come a lot quicker, sorry about the long wait, again.) Thank you so much for reading!**


	11. Eleventh Conspiracy: C h a n g e

**I'm so sorry for my absence you people! And unfortunately, I didn't really like this chapter all that much. I've been traveling, so I haven't had the time to update. It's finally up, but I sort of feel like it's unsatisfactory. Take it is a filler chapter you guys, and thanks for being so patient.**

**xXChangeXx**

_The first thing she noticed was that the room was completely red and black. _

_In front of her was a window, the moon glowing crimson. The air was sweet and pungent. _

_She blinked, lifting her hands to rub her eyes only to feel her fingers slick and wet. The girl looked down, the outline of her hands were red, dark liquid spilling from her palms and down her wrists._

_The scent began to turn acrid as the moon grew brighter. Her black eyes finally noticed something on the floor. Artemis lay in front of her, his eyes closed as if in sleep. His long black eyelashes prominently contrasted against his deathly white skin._

_What her fingers were dyed in was his blood, surrounding him in a strangely beautiful way._

_She recoiled, hitting her head against something smooth and cold. She turned around to see a… mirror?_

_Her eyes widened. On the other side was both of them, but she was on the ground, drowning in her blood like the Artemis that was with her. He was standing instead, looking down at his hands. _

_In the reflection, he turned to look at her, his face cold, blue eyes a shocking red. She put a hand up to him, and suddenly the blood on her palms began to dig into the glass, quickly cracking the surface. He brought up his hand to meet hers. _

"_What the-"_

"-hell?!"

Ame sat up in the bed, bringing up her hands to her face. She sighed with relief before flopping back down, curling up in the covers to sleep some more.

"No matter how alike you are to a cat, it would be best for you to wake now."

She shot up again. Artemis was in front of a mirror, adjusting his tie. She scratched her head, blearily looking around. "What the heck happened?"

"You passed out on me after the meeting. It seems to me that humans can't take our blood."

She mustered an agreeing noise as she slid out of the bed, feeling more than grungy in yesterday's clothes.

After a few moments she finally noticed that something about their area wasn't right. "Wait, where are we?"

By now he had somehow gotten hold of a cup of tea. Artemis set it down in a dignified manner. "It's good to see that you have finally noticed."

He walked over to her, and she instinctively shrunk backward. Without reacting to her negative movement, he strode over to the window over the bed, pulling the curtains wide open. Ame blinked as she felt her eyes adjust to the sunlight. For a moment she didn't even notice that the room was actually very dimly lit before.

She peered out of the window, smelling the air that was heavy with a mossy, watery scent. At first glance, outside seemed like a very packed city with many many almost soggy looking buildings. She did a double take, noticing the canals in between sections with intricate bridges to connect the two island-like sections.

Her eyes grew wider, "No way-"

"-Welcome to Venice."

She waved her hands frantically, "How did this happen?"

The genius simply folded his arms, "With bindings that were similar to the ones that were able to send us to the meeting. After you had so politely swooned I transported us here."

She grimaced, "I don't _swoon._ I fainted, got knocked out, something like that. Swooning sounds like a damn damsel in distress."

"Whatever suits your vocabulary." He simply replied, picking his tea cup back up.

Ame then felt it was the right time to look around. The room was on all accounts not large, but slightly bigger than medium. In front of her bed was a closet, and then a small mirror where Artemis had been adjusting his tie. The bed was pushed to the side of one wall, the other had a desk and a few hanging plants.

After a few minutes he put the cup back down, and a small binding appeared. It simply disintegrated in a matter of seconds. "Oh yes," He started, "My government has sent a scout of sorts to monitor our whereabouts during the search."

"Search?"

He stared peevishly at her. Under the pressure her eyes grew wide, "Ah! I remember! To find the killer!"

The bedroom door suddenly swung open, Quembly stood at the door frame. She put her hands on her hips, looking impatient. "We should get a move on, the government sent me to help and scout."

"I couldn't say that you would be help, though." Artemis stated dryly.

The blonde girl pursed her lips before walking away, making loud staccato noises on the hardwood floor with her heels.

"Please do make sure you don't walk around in heels anymore, it's awful on hardwood floors," He called out as an added measure of insult.

He then turned to Ame, looking a bit pale in the face from passing out.

"Ame."

She looked up at him as he pulled out a red ribbon. The girl stared at him curiously as he knotted it around her wrist.

The ribbon was silky and soft to the touch, nothing out of the ordinary, "What's this?" she asked, "It's a pretty ribbon and all, but what's it for?"

"Using this, you won't faint with my blood circulating in yours, a mere safety precaution. It's infused with powerful bindings."

"Thank-" her stomach growled. She didn't realize that she probably missed dinner and breakfast until then.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, looking amused. She glared at him.

The young man pulled out a sharpie. "What would you like to eat?"

Ame's eyes instantly glowed, "Anything I want?"

"Yes," He answered tiredly, "Anything you wish to eat."

"A grilled cheese sandwich, man I haven't had one of those for awhile, a corndog, and chocolate cake!" she smiled gleefully.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Out of anything in the world, you wish to eat something that could easily be made in the kitchen."

"What's wrong with that?" She replied indignantly.

"Never mind," He began writing on the bed in a flourish, his hands almost a blur.

Before long a circle had formed on the white comforter. She looked worried, wondering if the permanent marker would come out.

"Put your hand in the center."

Cautiously she did, and the binding flashed a deep red this time instead of blue. When she pulled away the circle was gone, instead, the foods of her choice. Ame dove in, cramming it all into her mouth.

After the rush seemed to settle, she asked, "Why'd it turn red this time?"

He seemed to look at her for a moment, "I told you before that after exchanging names, you could also use magic. I suppose that this could be intensified by the blood in your body."

"That's awesome!"

"But without proper training, it's virtually useless."

"You can teach me then!"

"I will not."

She dejectedly took the last bite of her cake. "You know, I want candy now."

Artemis began walking to the door, "Pay for that with your own money."

"Fine." she made a face, "Oh wait! I need to learn Italian first, right? How do you tell how much money they're asking for?"

"It's alright. We don't need to use the traditional way. I'll simply give you the ability to understand."

Suddenly he pressed his hand against her mouth, his pale face an expression of concentration.

She stood silently, knowing that asking if he was finished would only earn her an irritated look. Bit by bit he seemed to lean forward, and the atmosphere in the room grew uneasy.

Finally he was so close, she could feel his breath on her face, a faint scent of Earl Grey. He seemed to grin, but in reality he was only showing his teeth, white as his skin. Her hands grew sticky, but for some reason she couldn't move, she could only look at him with wide black eyes.

He leaned into her neck, his fangs gently scraping her skin. It drew blood that he quickly lapped up.

After for what seemed like an eternity in mere seconds, he pulled away, licking his lips.

"A bit of payment for the language is quite alright, no?"

Ame didn't answer, feeling the wound seal quickly from the vampire blood in her veins. His actions had suddenly reminded her of her dream. She shuddered involuntarily.

"I'm going to get that candy now," she walked out of the room as in a daze, not even bothering to retort to his last comment.

He nodded, but his blue eyes flashed. Artemis looked at her, startling the girl.

"Wait, Quembly and I will be accompanying you."

**xXChangeXx**

"That will be 7 Euros please." The cashier smiled hesitantly.

The Japanese girl happily gave him the money and began to stuff assorted bars and bags into her pockets, the rest she just held.

Artemis stepped into the tiny corner store. He looked almost ready to sniff with disapproval. "I believe that I will never quite understand your fixation on sweets."

She opened her mouth to reply angrily, but lost to the cashier.

"You!" he gapped, not even daring to move.

"Oh, whatever is the matter now?" He asked irritably, "Is there something about the Italian culture that deems me a target?"

The stout man swallowed, "You're a vampire!"

The genius smirked, making him flinch. "Why yes I am, with the crisis at hand, I don't think this occurrence is out of the ordinary."

The three stood in the shop, one steel-eyed vampire outside impatiently, in silence.

"You're not running?"

The black-haired pair looked at him peculiarly.

"Why?" The boy asked.

Ame looked puzzled too, "We could beat the shit out of you if we wanted, but since I bought candy from you, we won't."

The cashier looked uncertain as he reached under his desk and pulled out a thin book. "It… it says that you should run. The girl here, she looks human, but you… you should run."

Faster than a blink of an eye, he snatched the book out of the man's hands. He held it with his index finger and thumb, as if it was dirty. After examining it for a few seconds, his mouth curved into a knowing smile.

"I see," He put the book into the palm of his hand, "Very informative little book here… it seems to state that if you recognize a person as a vampire, they should be entitled to run."

"Eh?" The girl looked more than baffled, the idea was incredulous.

"This book has been distributed all over the world, I suppose. A what-to-do-in-case-of sort of thing. It seems though, that this is a special Venice copy." The book suddenly stood up in his hand, the poor man to afraid to ask for it back or even speak.

Ame decided to set down her candy to prevent it from melting. "What's so special about Venice?"

He simply answered in two words, "Vampire-hunting Country."

"Vampires… are supposed to run away from humans in Venice?" She took a peek outside, Quembly seemed to be huffing angrily.

"From what I have gathered," He replied coolly, "But… what would happen in the situation that a Vampire is very well respected, powerful, and foreign to the city?"

He seemed to be asking the cashier. Then man stayed silent as ever, unable to answer.

A binding glowed on the genius' palm, and the book burst into flames.

"It becomes irrelevant."

He shrieked in fear, a high squealish scream.

"Have no fear," Artemis smiled sadistically, "This is a very valuable piece of information, you have no need to fear for your well-being. Please don't inform anyone of this visit, and we'll be on out way out."

The man nodded quickly.

Ame pulled a box of gum out of an isle. "Oh! Hey! Can I buy this too?"

The man nodded quickly once again.

She approached his desk, and he shook his head quickly, trying to usher her out behind the frightening boy.

"For free?"

The man nodded quickly once again, sweat rolling down his face.

"Thanks!"

The door shut quietly, and he slumped into his seat, promising to never point out a vampire again.

**xXChallengeXx**

Ame's boot made a sickening squelch as she walked another step forward. "Any help here? Why the crap are we wandering in between the backed up, water-logged alleys anyways?"

Quembly was walking on what seemed to be a binding. It moved while she walked, forming a solid floor under her feet.

The genius had teleported himself to the other sidelong before, making the Japanese girl growl angrily. "Why couldn't you just teleport me too? It's like walking in freaking quicksand!"

The blonde girl finally stepped out of the muddied alley, the binding dissipated as strode over to Artemis.

"It should be just about now," He noted.

"What-!"

Two tanned hands shot out and grabbed Ame by the throat, clenching tightly.

"Give your money." A hoarse voice demanded in broken Italian. "I have knife, will not hurt if you give money."

She seemed to pay no attention wrenching herself free from his grip. "Damn it! Why would you set up something like this, Artemis!"

The tan boy lunged at her again, only to be snatched up by his left hand.

"Pickpockets," Artemis simply stated, watching the boy struggle in his grip.

"I don't know who to kick the crap out of first, the bastard or the guy that tried to rob me at knife-point!" she yelled.

She began another rant when she suddenly felt every pore in her body was filled with fear. The girl looked at the black-haired boy, his face completely blank of emotion.

"Don't look."

His voice was low and dangerous. Without bothering to ask why, she shut her eyes obediently.

A horrendous cry was heard, she snapped them back open. The boy was standing a few feet away from Artemis, holding his arm that seemed to be… bleeding?

The blonde girl covered her mouth, keeping herself in check.

"I've severed your hand… if you don't understand, I cut your hand _off_." His voice was still cold and sharp, face as expressionless as a statue.

Ame dashed towards him, "You couldn't have!"

He ignored her, "You will die without help soon. I will give it back to you if you help me."

The boy's brown eyes were livid.

"What the hell are you doing this for?" She punched him, yet he didn't even move a millimetre.

"I require his services. This city is not afraid of us, I decided this was for the best."

"My God, you're such a JERK." She turned to the boy, his face the picture of denial, "Just say yes… you'll die if you don't."

The pickpocket nodded, and Artemis quickly took his arm, placing the hand at the joints. In a few seconds, it was as if the whole situation never even occurred.

He sighed, "It was a wise decision, a few more seconds and the blood loss would have been a bit of trouble."

"What do you want with him?" Ame's voice angry, her eyes sad.

"You know how to break into houses, yes?" the vampire inquired.

"…Yes."

"Very good."

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**If anyone of you are thinking to themselves, "Why does Artemis need a pickpocket to break into a house? He could just teleport himself there, right?"**

**Welp, yes, that is true.**

**But of course Artemis needs him for more than just breaking into a house.**

**We'll see… XD**

**This chapter, like the previous one, is chock full of foreshadowing and hints! Remember them well and you might figure out the ending before anyone else! **

**Thank you all for reading this crappy chapter, I'll see you next time with a better one. **

**Please review! Reviews are my writer's food!**

**Edit: **

**Three hours after posting this chapter, I realized that I made a grave grave mistake... **

**THE TIME PARADOX COMES OUT TODAY! (Treat this as a celebration chapter, okay you guys? XD)**

**I suppose on the seventh of August I also have to post up a new chapter... anyone up for some random side plot oneshots?**

**A few of you may be thinking, "Why was it so important to pull this chapter off chapter and edit a note about it?"**

**FOR SHAME, YOU GUYS! This is where Artemis came from! So! Without further ado,**

**HELLO, TIME PARADOX! WELCOME TO AMERICA!**

**(End of Freakish rant to accompany freakish excitement. Don't forget to review!)**


	12. Twelfth Conspiracy: Investigation

**Disclaimer: If I owned Artemis, I'm pretty sure I'd make him have that really hot car mentioned in this chapter. He doesn't at the moment, does he? That proves I don't own the rights, Eoin Colfer does.**

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the sort of long wait! Thank you once again for so many reviews! On the seventh of August, I will be posting an extra special for the new UK Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox. Look forward to that! Until then, enjoy! I will be talking about this and more at the end of the story.**

* * *

**xXInvestigationXx**

The entire diner was silent as a grave. The only apparent noise was someone crunching loudly on his toasted bread, and the slurping from his iced tea.

Several minutes after the strange incident, the group of four arrived at a small restaurant. Everyone was acting entirely… normal.

The tan boy was the one that was eating amazingly loudly, gulping down his soup as if it was matter of life and death.

Quembly and Artemis sat on the other side of the four seat booth, looking like perfect statues. Ame groaned, leaning away from the messy eater. The previous incidents seemed nothing but a mere dream in the distant past, even the victim was acting as if nothing at all had happened, chewing happily.

Everyone else besides the group was completely quiet. The owner stood behind the counter, clutching the top tightly. Evidently, everyone knew what the two straight-faced people were.

"Would you mind telling us your name?" Artemis finally inquired when he believed it was possible for the younger boy to talk without food spilling out of his mouth.

He waved his fork around wildly, "I call myself Mulch Diggums. You can hire me to get whatever you want. Of course, with a price. But then again, you're the one that hacked off my hand. What can I bargain with a person like you?"

From under the table, the genius pulled out a cup of his personal Earl Grey. "I would prefer that you would tell me your real name, not your street name of sorts."

"Sorry, no can do." Mulch answered, shoving another piece of bread into his mouth, "I'll work for you, but I can't do much of anything else."

"You talk a lot better now…" Ame noticed, a bit irritated.

He smiled in response, "It helps the business. If tourists think you're some poor urchin off the street, they don't go after you with pitchforks and torches."

"Then we have to suppose that your clothes are also props?" The blonde girl sniffed, looking at his worn jeans and raggedy t-shirt.

"Yup," He looked entirely proud.

"Very well," Artemis stood, "As soon as the conman is done with his food, we will have to leave."

The Japanese girl huffed, "Why the heck did you have to try to rob me at knifepoint? In broad daylight with a couple of vampires on the other side of the alley?"

"I didn't know," he took another sip of his drink, "And vampires are supposed to run at the sight of humans, anyways. Who knew that your vampires are a lot scarier than the ones in these parts?"

"They're not-" she started

"We're not _her_ vampires," Quembly interrupted, "I'd be sooner caught in last year's fashions then be called her vampire."

Artemis just smirked, as if catching onto an inside joke. "Since everyone seems ready to go, I'll return in just a minute."

He strode out of the room, and the diner began to murmur.

The black haired girl crossed her arms, hating the looks they got. Two vampires, a pickpocket, and a random Asian thrown in. Seemed like a setup for quite a mess.

A sleek black car rolled to a stop in front of the door, easily increasing the whispers.

"Crapping…" Ame breathed, her black eyes widening. "A Lamborghini LP640!"

"Impractical," the other girl scoffed, "What is he planning to do with a car in Venice? Please."

Mulch began to laugh, "I get it, he's using the scare tactic. And to own a car in a place that uses bridges and boats as the main transportation, anyone would be scared out of their wits."

Ame ran out into the narrow street, the sun glinting off of the smooth black finish. She could almost feel herself drool. "Wait, why do you need a car? Can you just zap us to the location?"

"Do you believe I have unlimited power?" He looked peeved getting out of the car, "I don't have enough blood to spare for another transportation."

Artemis stopped, glancing at her neck smugly, "Unless you plan to be a provider of the fuel."

She turned away angrily, "Don't be stupid. I thought you could do anything. But I guess you're like Houdini, dying after getting hit in the gut."

"I don't plan to be hit in the gut anytime soon," He brushed off her angry screech as he mockingly took her words literally.

The blonde girl stood in the shade of the building's shadow, looking expectant. He noticed, opening the car door for her with a soft click. She smiled and slid in.

Mulch and Ame looked at each other, then at the front seat, then back at each other. Swiftly, she kicked him in the shin with her heavy right boot before screaming, "I call shotgun!"

"You cheater!" He managed to gasp in his pain.

She stuck out her tongue, "It's retribution, I tell ya!"

Several moments later, Quembly and the dirty tan boy were sitting in the back seat, uncomfortably leaning as far away from each other as possible. Ame had successfully fiddled with everything in the front seat, earning an annoyed rant from Artemis. She slumped angrily, refusing to look his way, but out of the window as they slowly rolled by the ancient buildings.

Gradually they came to a stop at a massive parking lot. They had parked without paying, thanks to a deadly glare when asked for 25 euros.

"You could've just given the poor kid some money," The Japanese girl closed the door carefully, marvelling at the car yet again.

The car made a beep as it locked. "Money is not something to be wasted." He answered smoothly.

She rolled her eyes as smoothly, "Okay, where are we going now?"

He didn't reply, and he continued not to, even when the two girls combined together to complain. Venice was an extremely lovely sight, but it felt as if they were walking aimlessly. Mulch kept them slightly out of walking like a coma patient, constantly jabbering about his amazing heists at one building or another.

Eventually they stopped in dank little village looking section of the city. An old lady was sweeping outside of her shop that seemed to hold odds and ends. She looked up to smile kindly at them, which was a strange sight, considering the treatment they were getting.

Artemis managed to smile as pleasantly, approaching her with a slip of paper.

They seemed to joke about something. Ame felt a bit sick, watching him put on such a nice face. Eventually the lady pointed in general direction, and he turned, cocking his head to the right.

The buildings began to look more and more decayed. They finally stopped in front of a tall skinny building smashed between a few others. The lights were all off, the blinds shut tightly.

Artemis looked pointedly at Mulch. At first the boy stared at him blankly, but then he finally remembered, "Ah! The thing you want me to do!"

The genius muttered under his breath, "Well, aren't you and Ame a pair…"

"That's not true! I could crack that kid's skull open!" She retorted.

"Hey hey hey! Hold up!" the said kid waved his hands, "Who ya callin' a kid? How old are you, shortie?"

She stomped her foot, "Shortie? Don't even try! I'm Asian, I can't help it! I'm sixteen, you dumbass!"

"What a coincidence! I'm sixteen as well! At least I'm taller than you!" He smiled.

"If you weren't taller than me, I'd say you have a problem!" She mananged to smack his head, "Just go and freaking pick the stupid lock!"

He tried to refuse, but caught the dangerously irritated aura Artemis was emitting.

The door clicked quietly. The pickpocket grinned and opened the door; they stepped in cautiously.

A choke was heard, and they turned around to see Mulch, his eyes slightly bugging out.

"Is something the matter?" Artemis asked him in a low voice.

"No…" He answered stiffly, "Anyways, let's go."

Ame's eyebrow lifted. She wasn't convinced. The blonde stood as stiffly as the boy, trying to avoid her dirty surroundings.

The house wasn't dirty, in truth, but more disorganized or messy. No light was able to push its way in, the only brightness coming from the front door. To the left was what seemed like a small living room, and to the right the kitchen. In front of them was two sets of stairs, one going up, and the other down.

A picture sat on a table, four faces covered blurrily with dust. The younger girl reached for it, but when she turned to look, the three were already walking up the stairs.

"Wait up!" She called, lightly sprinting towards them. "Why are we in this house anyways?"

"To investigate Opal Koboi's house, the victim of the murder." Quembly answered quickly.

"And what is better than investigating the scene of the crime?" The genius stopped, "Apparently, Opal was murdered in her own bedroom."

Suddenly the tan boy fell. Ame walked over, helping him up. "My gosh, are you a handful…"

"I need to sit down," he said, his face pale.

She began to worry, "Alright, we're going upstairs, you can sit on the steps or something."

He simply nodded, almost falling onto the third step. She made sure that he was fine with being by himself, and joined the other two, already on the second floor.

The second floor was unsurprisingly dark as the first, a narrow hallway leading to one last door on the far end.

Artemis walked to the first door on the right. "If my memory serves, this is her room."

"If it wasn't correct, I'd have a heart attack, and I'm pretty sure you'd die too, since you take pride in never being wrong." She took the chance to open door personally, swinging it open.

The light flooded in quickly, blinding them for a second. Opal's room was a contrast to the rest of the house, light and airy.

Three massive bookshelves stood on the wall on the right, while there was a sliding closet on the left, a big window across the door.

Ame squinted and croaked, "Bright…"

"Let's start searching, shall we?" He strode in, examining the desk under the window. "I see…"

"What is it?" Quembly decided not to enter, standing at the door frame.

He pointed at a dark stain on the wooden table. "Obviously blood."

"Ew," the black haired girl scooted over, also investigating the stain, "So… did she hit her head, or did they find her here?"

Artemis seemed to ponder for a moment, "I would believe that they found her here, considering that it seems to have a bit more of a 'pooling' effect than 'splatter.' They also said she died by a shot to the head."

She had to agree, the blot was large, and if the blood were to result from a smash from the head, then it would have been much less. "There should be blood from the bullet wound then."

Ame looked around. After a few moments she realized that she couldn't find the second stain. "That's really weird…"

"Contamination of evidence? Possibly?" he muttered in response, as if he were mentally checking off a list.

The blonde girl twirled a strand of hair around her finger, "It seems like this girl was a smart child…"

Her sharp eyes picked up a few titles from the books on the shelves, "A vampire fan too, in fact…"

Most of the books on the shelf were related to vampires in some way, the most evident were several books related to the same folklore.

"It's the same one," the shorter girl noticed, "The one about the first vampire killer… the same as the project we were working on."

"That's troublesome, the Prime Minister mentioned this." Artemis pinched the bridge of his nose.

She turned around, "What did he say exactly? I didn't hear anything about it…"

"He-"

Suddenly Quembly dashed in the room, her grey eyes bright.

"Freeze."

The sound of a gun cocking was heard.

"Don't move or I'll blow all your brains out."

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**Okay! Just a disclaimer to all, this chapter was not BETAed because I'm leaving to go back home today. I was actually on a trip for about a month at Canada, that's why I've been so slow on the updates. **

**Related to the special on August 7, it will be a side story about specific events that took place before this story! I will be throwing in a character named Anna that is in another story of mine called "Panic...? Panic!" **

**You might have heard of that story before, and if you want to see it actually written, there is a POLL on my profile at the moment for YOU to vote for TWO stories that you want me to write after Bloody Conspiracy: Truth or Lies. Summaries and Excerpts of all the story choices are at the bottom of my profile, so check them out before making a choice. This poll will REALLY determine what I do next, so I urge you guys to vote!**

**Related to the sudden adding to the Bloody Conspiracy name, I have decided to cut the story into definitely two, and possibly three parts. The first one (This one,) is named "Truth or Lies," the second, "Reflect the Past," and the pending third, "Blood Thicker than Water."**

**That's all the updates for now you guys! Thank you so much for reading! And now... I ask you all a big favor... it'd be nice if I could get NINETY reviews (in total,) before I post up the special on the seventh. It really isn't that hard, just drop in and give me a shout! I love all your reviews, and it'd be nice if I could get ninety of them before the next time I post. **

**Thanks again! And please review you guys! (Let's shoot for Ninety!)**

**See you on the seventh!**


	13. Extra Conspiracy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. I'm sure he'd shoot me in the head before I could even say so. **

Thank you so much for all your reviews! Here's the extra chapter for the release of the Time Paradox in UK!

Extra Conspiracy: Choice

Anna stabbed her fork into her pasta once again, listening to her computer hum in the background. She felt frazzled for more reasons than one today, and she didn't have the heart to eat the frozen dinner, now thawed and hot. Her brown hair was pulled back in to a business like bun, and her shoulders still stiff.

Earlier today she had a meeting, to see how well her book was doing. Apparently the editors were still working on it, probably straining the last bits of individuality out of it.

It had been about three longs years of endless toil, and she had finally come up with a product she was satisfied with.

But then…

She pushed her glasses up, wishing she had never thought of that one extra chapter.

Three years ago, she decided to make a fun little excerpt. The concept of it was interesting, and she wanted to try it out with her plot.

Her story was about vampires, thrown in with politics and murder. She had decided to write the short based on something relatively simple, "What if someone wrote about all these incidents in a book, within my book, just waiting for someone to pick it up and save the world?"

In the end she never finished it, feeling a strange pulling feeling with each word she typed. The extra wasn't even in the book, but it still made her feel uneasy. She huffed to no one in particular and took a stab at her broccoli.

But as soon as the metal fork made contact with the porcelain dish through the abused piece of broccoli, the entire apartment became pitch black.

The girl didn't dare to even make a quiet squeal. The last time she forgot to pay for electricity and shrieked at the sudden darkness, her angry neighbor pounded on the wall next to her, effectively silencing her.

Anna got out of her chair slowly, hoping that she knew her surroundings well enough not to trip and fall on something dangerous. The kitchen was to her left, and she slowly made her way to it.

In the bottom drawer under the oven was a pack of matches. She cursed, remembering that she had left the candles in her bedroom in effort to stimulate aromatherapy on one of those sleepless nights.

The city lights of Dublin gave light into her bedroom, she noted thankfully. The candles rested on her nightstand. She lit a match and began to light the candles.

"Boo"

The match went out in a gust, and she couldn't help but cry out this time. Angry neighbor or not, she couldn't contain the anxiety.

Not realizing she had tightly shut her eyes, she opened them once again to see a pair of light blue eyes staring back at her.

She pedaled backwards instantly, tripping over her heels and crashing into her dresser, hitting her head on it for the umpteenth time from her clumsiness.

Upon a frightened examination, a boy that looked no older than sixteen stood in front of her, a warm smile lighting his features. He extended a hand out to her, "I'm sorry, I had no idea that would frighten you."

Without thinking, she took it, being pulled back upright in less than a second.

"'Boo' is not a term I would use, Myles. It's sadly very cliché."

Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow seemed to split itself away from the rest, donning on blue eyes much like the first boy, but held no warmth. They were cold and calculating, a shade darker than the first.

Myles laughed, "Sorry Artemis, I couldn't find any better words at that moment."

The second young man finally stepped completely into the light, his abnormally pale skin glowing from the streets and cars whizzing by outside the window. His hair was black enough to sharply contrast with the white of his face.

"You sound more and more like Beckett with each passing moment," He murmured with a gentle, but smug smile on his handsome features.

The younger only laughed in response, his skin just a slight shade darker than Artemis'. "You know very well that that isn't the case, I'm just not handy with picking out the right vocabulary like you, brother."

Neither one seemed to notice the sole woman in the room, still continuing to babble under her breath, her heels halfway kicked off her feet.

"Ah yes," the one with the deathly pallor seemed to finally remember, "How absent-minded of us, we completely forgot the objective."

His brother rolled his eyes in response, "We all know that you don't really forget anything. You strayed into a tangent just to scare her, didn't you?"

"You know me all too well."

The faced her, and suddenly Myles snapped her fingers, the candles lit instantly.

And just like her unwritten excerpt, she heard the words she planned to write but never did.

"We're here to negotiate to publishing of your novel, Miss Anne. Please do follow us cooperatively, or we will resort to more drastic measures."

Ten incomparably long minutes later, the three sat in a quiet run down diner. The two boys with their black hair and stunning blue eyes earned more than one look from the unsuspecting girls.

Anne had finally settled into a somewhat repressed panicking state, holding her cup of coffee with minimal shaking from her hands.

Artemis and Myles looked at each other as if to share a private joke, and then the older reached under the table, pulling out a steaming cup of Earl Grey, along with a tall glass of cold green tea. He earned a pointed look from his younger brother. "Nothing with high caffeine, you'll go into insomnia like your brother."

"Vampires."

They looked at her, and her hands began to vibrate once again. Somehow she had found her voice long enough to say something stupid.

As usual.

Myles shrugged, "Since you have the gift of specific clairvoyance, we can't be surprise that you knew."

"You're quite a peculiar one," Artemis' eyes shined with a strange light… the sort of light that made her normally stay away from people talking to themselves, "Strangely enough, you wrote almost everything that was to come, even about you meeting us."

She somehow lost her tongue again… somehow, her book was becoming… real…?

The two looked at each other again, which was unnerving. If they were like the vampires she imagined them to be, who knew what they would do to her?

He took a dignified looking sip of his tea, "We will explain now. Three years ago, a stupendous plot formed in your head. Unable to leave it, you wrote it out. You even almost managed to write about this meeting that we are having at this very moment."

"We had to stop you from doing that." The younger added in quickly.

"Everything…" She croaked, then took a gulp of the steaming coffee, the heat instantly clearing up her throat, "Everything I wrote in my story… is real?"

"Quite."

Anna stood up suddenly, "But that means-"

"Hush," Artemis interrupted, his voice low and pleasing, yet commanding. "We cannot afford for you to relay anymore information that you have now. Humans are suspicious creatures. If your story were to be published, your vision may stop from happening all together."

"Isn't that okay?" She didn't understand, "Couldn't you guys just keep… hiding forever?"

The more cynical one snorted, "Myles, do you really believe this? Miss Anna, you cannot keep us from awakening, but your book can keep the… better outcome for humans from ever happening."

"Which one is better anyways? Either outcome came as many deaths." She replied somberly.

"It depends on what side you're rooting for," Myles finished his tea quickly, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, getting a silent look of disapproval from his brother, "I don't think you're stupid, you're better off rooting for the humans."

She fingered the handle of her teacup, "I'm keeping my mouth shut about the awakening and everything else that happens after that from the humans…

His tea cup was empty. He shook it a few times, and the cup refilled itself, "Ironically, yes. Of course we will pay for the silence… but it is in your best interest to do this, unless you want a quick and obvious death."

"I don't know," she answered, "I don't know if I should warn them or not… you never know their reactions-"

"Please be rational, you are wiser than typical humans with your extra sense of 'clear visibility,' you understand that under panic, humans are utterly short-sighted, and do not think clearly. You may choose to keep your mouth shut and save lives, let your vision take its course, or you may try to be the millionth harbinger of 'the end,' in which you will be tossed 

aside as soon as they become frightened." Artemis tried to explain as clearly as possible without any real mentioning of the situation. In this sort of place, you can never tell if someone is intuitive to listen onto their obscure conversation.

His words were vague, but in her heart they rang with truth. Within her pages held the vital details to all the things to come, and if the two brothers had not looked like they jumped out of her own mind, she wouldn't believe the incident taking place right at that very moment.

In her quietness, Myles reached out to take a trembling hand. "I don't want to sound so much like a pleader, but Miss Anne, you hold the key to the doom and resurrection, please choose wisely."

"But then… what about _her_?" she finally asked, "The other girl, that will eventually have to choose again."

"She is sleeping safely in her suburban home, dreaming about tomorrow's lunar eclipse." Artemis knew what she was getting at, "Eventually, she will have to choose herself, but we should not keep that from even happening, now should we?"

Anna poured more sugar into her coffee, hoping the buzz would dull her shocked state, "Why would I prevent it from happening?"

"I've already explained this." His mood turned irritable.

"You wrote everything in a book, right?" Myles tried to take over, shaking his empty glass.

"…Yes…"

The glass began to refill itself, "If something that didn't happen in the book at the very beginning, happened in real life, wouldn't that change the whole story?"

The full situation finally hit her in the face.

The three fell silent. She couldn't believe she was making a deal with her book characters… scratch that, with people she wrote about. Try as hard as she could, she couldn't find a hole in their argument. It was almost like time traveling, if a time traveler were to go back and do something he shouldn't have, things unknown to the future will happen from his consequences.

Essentially, if she were to publish a book about the future, the future would not happen as expected, and estimating a human's reaction, everything could take a turn for the worst.

But she could bargain, what would happen if she did try to interfere? What if a better outcome were to present itself?

In the end it was too dangerous; she couldn't put her hopes on a better outcome than what she had seen already.

"How much?"

Myles was about to shake his cup for the third time.

Artemis leaned back, feeling if not satisfied relieved. "We can take care of all your housing expenses, lighting, mortgage, and I suppose we can afford to give you a new house."

"It's alright," She sighed, "I don't want to make it seem like you made me. I just want to forget about all of this, I'm pretty sure you can do that to me… and then clear up everything with my editors."

They looked at each other again, nodding.

A few muttered inaudible words later, Anna walked out of the coffee shop believing that she had just stopped by after a long day.

The two boys stood, their cups disintegrating into a small binding on their palms. Myles smiled, "I'll be leaving for now. Do you need to go anywhere else today, Artemis?"

He seemed to smirk, "I need to check up on her, and get something vital also. I don't think I will be sleeping tonight."

"You're going somewhere?"

"Yes… I have a few more errands to run."

After a few more silent but comfortable minutes, the younger asked, "What if we're just part of the excerpt that another author decided to write? And our other selves have not stopped her just yet?"

"I'm sure they'll reach a negotiation when the time comes," His brother answered. "Because… when the time comes, they cannot publish this book. But, we're speaking theoretically, aren't we? If we are actually within the plot of another book, it's up to ourselves of an alternate dimension. That is a very interesting question though."

"It seems like a never ending loop to me." Myles smiled.

"We have no need to worry. We will find the people that know the truth before it's time."

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Or not?

**Well, actually, I'm not posting this up. My friend is. (woo hoo! –ed.) Right at this moment I'm probably getting bitten by a bazillion mosquitoes! Look at what I'm going through for you guys! To make someone else post it just so you'll have it! XD (This is mock indignation.) **

**If anyone got confused with the concept, leave a review about it! **

**Yet again, I am conducting a poll to see which TWO stories you would want me to write after this. Head over to vote now!**

**Thanks again! Happy reading! (My favorite is on page 364, paragraph four to eight.) **

**Don't forget to review! Reviews are my food…! (She's right- do it. -ed)**


	14. Thirteenth Conspiracy: T r u t h

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis. If I did, he would have pocky sticking out of his nostrils today... since I got some at the market just now. **

**Well, I'm not all that happy about this chapter... it has a pretty flat ending. Anyways, lets get on with it:**

**xXTruthXx**

The gun was held with a shaking hand, and initially he seemed like he would pose no threat.

"Whatcha doing in my house? You're intruders, aren't you?" He spat on the ground, much to almost everyone's disgust.

In Artemis' mind, several possible theories of escape whirled through his head. What seemed easiest was to bind the spitting human.

For the two girls, the thought of how revolting it was to spit in your own house was the only thing apparent.

The genius finally attempted to reach communication, no matter how feeble it was, he didn't need the accusation of killing off an entire family on his head. "We're here to-"

"-Dad! What the hell are you doing?"

The man turned around quickly, almost in a frightened way. He recognized that voice.

Mulch stood at the foot of the stairs looking recovered enough to be irate. His father was in disbelief, the gun clattered to the ground, missing the puddle of spittle, and receiving a sigh of relief from both Ame and Quembly.

"Matty?" Mulch's father called out.

"What a change of events." Artemis said without much surprise in a flat voice, despite his words, "I request that we find a pleasant place to sit down and discuss."

Awkwardly, they stumbled down the stairs and into the living room that was covered with beer bottles.

After finding at least decent places to sit, the man attempted a conversation, "Are you uh… Matty's friends?"

"Matty? That's your real name? No wonder you wanted to keep it a secret." Ame snorted.

"Nothing adds up though. Why did you have to break into your own house?" Quembly pointed out.

His hands curled into fists, "Because I didn't know where dad or… Opal was for a very long time."

"Wait… that means…" The Japanese girl's expression turned instantly sorrowful. "You're her brother…"

"She died, didn't she? You were talking about it before you went upstairs." He demanded in response.

His father had taken up a cigarette. "Your sister died two days ago. Someone murdered her. The police are still looking into it."

His voice was unnaturally calm.

"What do you mean by 'I didn't know where they were for a long time'?" Artemis inquired, trying to ease the rising tension, while naturally digging up old wounds.

"They left suddenly. My whole family. I had no idea where they went." Mulch couldn't turn to look at his father, "That's why I'm living the way I am. Of course, I might be a bit kleptomaniac, but that's besides the point, what happened to Opal?"

Mr. Koboi waved the smoke out of his face, "I already told you, she was murdered a few nights ago."

"I don't think you want to risk going into the gory details today, Mulch. We don't know your situation, but I'm sure you should spend more time with your Dad, and clear things up." Ame suggested.

The two men seemed shift in protest, but the black haired vampire stopped them. "Yes, this is a very good idea. We will come back tomorrow." He had put on a nice smile, but underneath it was a clear killing intent if they failed to agree with him.

The three ushered themselves out, much to the chagrin of the remaining people in the Koboi family.

While sitting in the car, by prompt, or what Artemis would say was incessant whining, they began to theorize.

"I didn't see a mother in the house," Ame decided to be the first, stating the obvious.

The young man replied. "The old lady I was asking for directions from told me that there was no wife… apparently there are rumors of her death… there might be murder involved."

"You didn't need directions, didn't you? You just needed some dirt before we got there." She realized, her voice accusing.

"You know me all too well." He smirked, "I suppose we can go back to her once again in pretense of a visit, we might be able to find out much more from her."

"This is all too coincidental. Two Koboi women dead from murder? There must be more to that."

He seemed to be amused, "It could also be pure chance. Humans are strange creatures."

After deciding to visit the lady again, they trudged back to crumbling bit of the town. As always, the air was thick with a fishy smell.

The woman had momentarily stopped her work, sitting at one of the three tables in front of her store. She waved pleasantly.

They seated themselves as she greeted them all. "Are you enjoying Venice? It's strange to see visitors right now, considering everything that is going on."

"True, but we're here for a more serious reason." Artemis replied, "Could you tell me anything more bout the Koboi family?"

"…They were a bit of an odd bunch from the start… Only the father and the daughter, as you already know." She looked thoughtful.

No mother as we thought, Ame noted, maybe we can figure out more.

He nodded, "So… what was Opal like as a child?"

"Oh!" She almost seemed weary, "Such a precocious child! But spoiled to the core! Her father would get her whatever she wanted, even two dogs, Mervall and Descant that she trained to bite."

"It would seem easy that someone naturally would hold a grudge again her then, but not to the point of murder. That would be unthinkable." The genius concluded.

The lady laughed, "She was always a bit shrill… possibly it was an unfortunate break-in, and the robber realized she could scream enough to wake up the whole street."

"We want to be honest with you." Artemis told her, the Japanese girl rolling her eyes in the background, "We're investigating this crime as a murder… and none of their belongings seem to have been stolen. Wouldn't knocking her out suffice?"

"That is true…" she agreed.

"Is there anything else you could tell us?" Quembly asked.

She looked indecisive, "Well… it's such a silly rumor, but… you are investigating, it would be best to tell everything just in case, no? This is how it goes… the Koboi woman, Opal and her late mother, are rumored to be witches."

"Witches?" Ame replied skeptically, and instantly wanted to take it back. With the things going on the past week, she couldn't be surprised about this sort of thing anymore.

"What do you mean by that?" He pressed on.

She seemed to be a bit embarrassed to be spouting what seemed like nonsense, "Apparently they knew how to kill vampires, which is sort of ironic with what's going on right now in the world, isn't it?"

"Hey, you ass…" The girl's face was pale, "What's the meaning of this? You didn't know this, did you?"

"Of course not. But this would explain the fear Vampires have in this city. Ms, could you explain clearly?" Artemis brushed it off instantly.

The lady had put her broom against the wall, now fully intent on talking to the three, "No one knows exactly what that exactly means. But it originates from the rumors of Mrs. Koboi's death."

Quembly seemed to recall something, her eyes flashed. "Someone supposedly broke into their previous home and found books about Vampire Hunting, wasn't it?"

"Oh, now, how did you know this and not tell us?" Ame's voice was on the verge of angry.

"I didn't think it would be relevant to this case. Because a mother is suspicious and dead, doesn't mean that her daughter is." She snapped back instantly.

Artemis seemed to pay no attention to the whole scene, obviously uninterested. "You mentioned much earlier that Reina Koboi's death was said to be a murder."

"They moved instantly after her death. A few months before though, they had run into debt, and Mr. Adam Koboi had taken to drinking. People have said that the move was suspicious, especially because Mr. Koboi was violent when intoxicated." She looked almost guilty, talking about gossip that wasn't completely solidified.

"Moving away has nothing to do with anything," The Asian girl suddenly spoke up, "When my mother died, we moved away as well, though, this whole drinking business is really fishy."

Only Quembly seemed slightly surprised at hearing that her mother had died. Possibly the genius knew all along, from pretending to be childhood friends with her. Ame herself didn't seem to be fazed by announcing the death.

After a few minutes of awkward condolences from the old woman, and some hasty "it's alright," "I'm fine with it," "She died when I was young," the lady picked up her broom again. "I don't have anything else I know of, I hope you'll be able to get to the bottom of this crime though."

They said their thanks and goodbyes then, opting to once again to go back to the car.

Ame ripped open a bag of skittles, picking out the grape ones first. "Well, this really sucks. If Opal and her mom were seriously witches or something like that, more power to the prime minister."

Something Artemis' pocket beeped twice. He pulled out the cellphone.

"You actually carry your cellphone around?" The blonde asked, "The last time I tried to call you, you said that you rarely use it, and most of the time it's off."

"Ahh yes… that was a lie. Your calls were demanding and irritating," He told her without much of a blink.

Her face turned indignant. "So, er…" the other girl spoke with a mouthful of orange now, "Who's texting you?"

He frowned, "Myles. Some controversial facts have come up."

"What is it?" She snatched the phone from his hands, pressing a few buttons accidentally that brought up an "Achievements" file.

She scrolled a bit before he quickly took it back from her. "Professor Primate?" The girl smiled, "What the heck is that?"

"It was made for Myles quite a few years back. It was a stuffed monkey I modified it to say twenty some phrases." He answered nonchalantly, "This is besides the point. Supposedly the prime minister has found some incriminating evidence against me."

She couldn't contain her laughter, red skittles spilling out of her hands. She finally stopped after he gave her a pointed look. "Okay… what are we gonna do now?"

Artemis smirked, "Simple, we will just have to go back to the Koboi house and find evidence to counter attack it."

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**Sorta flat huh? Well, anyways, I'll have a better one up next week... and then it'll be Artemis' birthday, so I'll post a special then too. (Look forward to it, epopel that pay attention to this will have a REALLY good hint about what happens in the end of this part of BC and the last part of BC too.)**

**My poll is still up! With one new choice, so you can check out the summaries again. Also, _Second Legend, Panic...? Panic-!, _and_ Sudden Death Mode _all have excerpts now. Read them to choose wisely. The poll essentially is pick TWO, TWO I SAY, choices of stories you want me to work on after BC. Happy voting!**

**Review review review! Review is my writing food! (besides pocky.) Until next time, push the purple/blue button and drop in a thought!**


	15. Extra Conspiracy: O n l y O n e

**Something special to celebrate Artemis' birthday... It has a lot of foreshadowing, and some blatant spoiling if you squint your eyes and think hard enough. Enjoy, you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't think I own Artemis Fowl. Therefore, I'm quite sure I don't**

**Extra Conspiracy: Only One**

She woke to find herself in a room that let the light in brightly, warming up the white sheets of her bed. Two giant windows stood across the room, making the marble floors shine.

As her dark brown eyes cleared, the girl looked around warily, as if to search for someone. There he was, next to her all along, sitting beside the bed. He took her hand gently.

His blue eyes were warm and bright like the sky. "Are you feeling better?"

"Myles." She called out more from happiness than affirmation, slowly pulling him close in an embrace.

"You seem better." The younger Fowl boy smiled.

She fingered the ribbon in her hair, "Yes, much better. Your brother knows what to do."

"Of course," he made a jealous face mockingly, "I helped too."

The girl laughed in response, her frail black hair swaying with her. "I'm sure you did, you would do anything to help me. That's why I love you."

She couldn't remember a day without Myles, and a day without him would have been like a day without seeing the sun.

"He helped her too, didn't he?" She didn't have any resentment in her voice, only relief and wonder.

He nodded, "It'd be natural. How could he not?"

"That's good." She smiled brightly, "That's really really good to hear."

A phone rang, and Myles pulled it out of his pocket, quickly texting in response. As he stood up, she stretched nimbly with somewhat of a cat-like flexibility. He chuckled, patting her head.

"Where are you going now?" the girl didn't have to feel disappointed, she knew he would be back soon enough.

He looked like he was staring far beyond the room, "Artemis needs a bit of help."

"Everything will work out fine." She touched the ribbon in her hair.

"You think so?" He turned around amused, "How do you know that?"

Her brown eyes blinked, as if it was an obvious answer. "She'll decide what's right for us and the world."

The vampire didn't answer, just simply scooped her up in a tight hug.

"I love you, Myles."

He nodded, trying to ignore the need he felt to bury his fangs into her neck.

"I'll always love you, and no one else."

_Because you have no one else._

Doubt settled into his mind. He knew he wasn't the person she imagined him to be. As soon as he left her room full of light, and into the rest of the corridors filled with the bleak dusty brightness, he could feel it. The doubt gnawing at him.

_She loves me, I'm sure of it. _

Famous last words, he smiled almost bitterly before greeting a servant with a mask of cheerfulness.

We're all foolish, he thought acridly. Even the brother that told him what was best. Even he was foolish.

The thoughts almost suffocated him, he could almost feel the need to go back to her room, her gentleness to be reassured. He knew it, he couldn't turn back or pull away now. It was too late, too late for all of the brothers.

He would always love her, and no one else.

Because in his mind, he had no one else.

-

-

-

**I suppose that's a very depressing end... I do hint at Beckett's whereabouts though... if you can guess which Fowl boy Myles is talking about each time, you have essentially a pretty easy guess at BC part 1's plot twist... well... one of them, at least. (Insert my smirk.)**

**Thank you so much for supporting me, and don't forget to review! I love love LOVE reviews!**

**Happy birthday, Artemis!**


	16. Fourteenth Conspiracy: Q u e s t i o n s

**Disclaimer: I Don't own Artemis Fowl. I swear it upon grilled cheese!**

**I'm BACK! I'm terribly sorry for all of those that have waited so long. School came back with a vengeance. If it wasn't homework, it was at least a test or an essay or project or etc. It was horrible. Today was my first break. **

**THIS IS UN-BETA'D. IF I HAVE MISTAKES, I'M SENDING THIS TO EPPY TO EDIT. I JUST THOUGHT YOU WOULD WANT TO READ IT FASTER, REGARDLESS OF THE MISTAKES. I was thinking for YOU, so there. (Kidding of course. Sorry for the errors.)**

**Enjoy!**

**Questions**

_Burn_

_Thirst_

_She clawed at her throat._

_Her throat burned and her teeth ached. No matter what she did she couldn't fight back the need to bite into something pliant but solid. Her nose could smell the acrid sweet aroma floating in the air once again._

_At only a glance she could tell she was back in the realm of the black and red room. She looked down at her hands, instantly expecting to see the macabre sight of blood staining her palms. _

_Unconsciously she noted how easy it was to believe that this world in her mind was wholly real. _

_Suddenly a pair of arms wound their way around her waist from behind her, the cuffs of the shirt sleeves stained black. He buried his head into her shoulder. _

"_Artemis?"_

_Ame craned her neck around to look at him. Once again, his eyes a startling red, but even more disturbingly, she could see her own reflection in them._

_Her eyes were red as well._

_She lifted her hand to push him away slightly, only to feel something tug at her wrist. The red ribbon was tied securely around her wrist, trailing to the far end of the room. _

_Instantly she felt the need to look away. The path of shining red led to a girl, her eyes hidden in the shadows, but her mouth twisted into a familiar empty smile._

_The portrait._

_It took her a few moments to notice someone was holding the girl's free hand. The two of them as still as statues. "Myles? What are you doing here?"_

_The younger Fowl boy said nothing, staring at her with crimson eyes before her head was turned roughly back to the person holding her. _

"_Pay no attention to them," Artemis smirked briefly before quickly sinking his teeth into the column of her neck._

_Her eyes widened at the lack of warning, but she was even more surprised because she felt no pain._

"Damn those messed up dreams." She woke up, rubbing her eyes angrily.

The window of her room was open now, the stars shining dimly under a pale white moon.

After a few moments of disorientated thinking, she could slowly hear voices from outside the door.

The dream began to fade into the back of her mind. The only thing she could recall from the whole ordeal was the bleak feeling she felt as she tried to remember.

Just like all the other dreams that occurred on previous nights.

Ame leaned over the side of the bed to pull a chocolate bar from underneath it, glad now that she had dropped it and was too lazy to pick it up at the time.

"Stop. She's awake."

Quembly's voice was easily heard now. Before then, there were only murmurs as the two vampires talked under their breath.

Artemis took a deep breath, "Of course she's awake. I planned this entire conversation to happen while she was awake."

Curious, the Japanese girl slid out of her bed, enjoying the cool sensation of the wood floors on her bare feet. "Planned what why?"

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know what you're planning Artemis, but don't involve him in it."

"Him?" He looked bemused, "Who could that be? I didn't mention _him_."

She narrowed her eyes, noticing her fumble. Ame had clearly not heard the previous conversation, and now that she was awake, he would bring the undisclosed situation to the forefront.

The other girl had begun to gnaw on her chocolate bar, "Oh… you mean Shaun? Who is he anyways?"

Ame seemed to receive random sparks of intuition once in awhile to make up for her general obliviousness.

"Ahh… just for a reminder, please do tell me again who Shaun is." He smiled, clearly enjoying the frozen look on Quembly's face.

Her fists were clenched. "He's my blood servant."

"Oh, really?"

Her eyes snapped wide, flashing in the darkness. Every muscle in her body dared him to tell the truth. If he did, she would do anything in her power to rip him to shreds, legs up for the added torture.

Artemis didn't have to do the talking, Ame did it for him. "Naw that's not it." She waved the bar around in the air. Recently she had read a really good detective manga, and she felt in the mood to find contradictions regardless of if there were really any or not. "The first time you mentioned him, you seemed too concerned. And when you were talking about me with Artemis, you seemed to refer to blood servants as nothing but worms."

"She has a point." He waved his hands, mimicking her actions while dodging a swift kick from Ame.

"What are you trying to pull?" She could feel her canines itch in her mouth. "Why are you acting so completely ignorant?"

He stared at her in response, "Please tell us the truth then, since we both do not know."

No going back, she thought bleakly.

"He's not a blood servant… he's… a human that I'm in love with."

"Ahh… so it's a forbidden romance!" His eyes widened with fake surprise.

Ame shifted her weight unto another foot, "What's so wrong with it?"

"Vampires fall in love with humans occasionally." Artemis' eyes gleamed, "Such as my mother, but in those rare occurrences, humans are most likely turned."

"What happens to humans that aren't turned?"

"Death."

Quembly shuddered involuntarily. He stated it so easily, so matter of fact. He was a man that could see thousands of children die before him and shrug without a thought.

"But that isn't fair. Why is it that humans have to die just because of that?" The Asian girl grew perplexed.

He didn't answer, and a heavy silence fell on the three of them.

"You're not saying that… the folklore about the death of the first vampire… is real, right?"

One eyebrow raised, "The strange thing about fairytales is that they are most likely exaggerated truths."

"That's the reason why vampires have been hiding all along?" She almost scoffed, the idea strangely novel that the reason why vampires went into hiding was something that children read as their first fairytale.

"Embarrassingly," his face, it should be noted, did not change into even a slightest shade of red, "That is the complete and utter truth."

The sky outside was a muddy grey. Dawn was nearing sooner than the three had expected. "So, that's the reason why humans have to be turned. For fear of rebellion?" Ame was talking softly without knowing.

"The unfortunate truth." Quembly sighed in response.

Artemis looked at the two, "Now that we know who Shaun is-" earning a glare from the blonde girl, "-I suggest that Ame should go back to sleep. We will be visiting Mulch's residence once more."

By now the girl ordered to go to bed was too tired to argue, trudging back to her room as she fell from her momentary sugar high.

A few hours later, dressed for colder weather, she returned to the main room to see the two vampires staring at each other with stone cold faces. They were still as statues until the genius got up, silently walking out the front door.

Her best guess was that they had said plenty after she had retreated to her bedroom. Whether or not it was about Shaun, it was anyone's guess.

But she still thought that the conversation being about the ever elusive human was her best guess.

"My dad's out. I've been looking around myself." Mulch answered the door casually, despite their extremely awkward meeting the day before.

The three had the same thought in their mind. For valuables to sell, no doubt.

He led them in, the state of chaos was unperturbed. Layers of dust and various beer bottles still covered almost every surface. Though this time around, the windows were wide open, letting in a dusty light.

He cocked his head towards the same set of staircases, but this time the one to the basement. "It wasn't that hard to evade my dad. He went to bed in his drunken state as usual. While he was asleep I did some searching around. Everything I've found up till now is down there."

"Your loyalty is commendable," Artemis let a smug smile ghost his lips, "What drove you to work so hard?"

"Maybe your death threat." A certain Japanese girl muttered quietly, but loud enough to be heard on purpose.

Mulch laughed and nodded, "Yeah that. Also, I find my family disappears one night, that my mother may have been murdered, and my sister is dead. You'd probably want to know what happened to them. A guy has to have loyalties somewhere."

Ame glanced over to notice the portrait that was lying face down was now gone from the small table at the entry way. Before she could ask, the rest of them had already begun their descent to the basement.

The tiny room at the bottom of the first floor apartment could be described as musty, filled with books on every side of the concrete brick walls. Tiny rectangular windows at the top of the walls filtered in the sunlight.

In the center was a pile of books, with one picture frame standing on top of the stack. The black haired girl instantly strode over to pick it up, examining the picture closely. A kindly woman with chocolate brown eyes smiled back at her.

"My mom. Before I knew what even happened, she was dead and buried." The younger boy took the photo frame from her. "The stack of books look a lot like witchcraft… coupled with a few different versions of the infamous vampire fairytale. If you're a vampire, you might be able to read the ones in older languages."

"Why so many different versions?" Ame took one and tried to dust the cover in vain.

He seemed to debate with himself for a bit, "Oh yeah! Supposedly the Koboi family descended from Kabeera, the first woman to kill a vampire. I guess these could be considered ancestral texts then."

At this point Quembly had made no noise, but seemed to freeze. The other girl turned toward Artemis, "What's this going to mean?"

He said nothing, the look on his face almost urged her to read on.

"You're a total bastard, getting yourself into this mess. Witchcraft… knowing how to kill vampires, now descendants? Are you out of your mind?" She could hear herself laugh nervously.

Because then again, this wasn't just his life on the line. It was hers too.

Her hands shook as she peeled back the first page, some of the paper crumbling to her touch.

The words on the first page. Bold and clear.

She felt something shatter in her heart. First the promise to the Artemis she used to know, and secondly, her hope to live on.

"The retelling of the folklore of Kabeera, written down by her fourth generation descendant, Aabid."

Those words could have said "Escagot is the best food for clean cat hair" for all she cared, but-

"Kabeera, our ancestor, is the first woman to kill the vampire of the name Beckett Fowl."

"We're screwed."

The atmosphere seemed to weigh upon every single one of the people in the tiny basement. Mulch decided that this wasn't the time to say anything witty, regardless of whether he knew what was going on or not.

"I will tell the truth," Artemis finally spoke for the first time entering the room, "Kabeera did kill my brother Beckett Fowl, twin brother of Myles."

* * *

**Artemis has a nasty habit of not saying anything until the last second, no? Don't worry, he always has a good reason for it.**

**Related to Shaun, he'll have a pretty important role later on. You'll see!**

**The poll is still running! Pick TWO stories that you want me to write next! (details on my page)**

**Please review! Love love reviews! **

**Until next time!**


	17. Fifteenth Conspiracy: S n a p p i n g

**Here it is! The new chapter! I'm trying my hardest to update more regularly, to make up for the one month absence. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. I can't think of anything witty to put after that today.**

**Snapping**

As politely as ever, Artemis whisked Ame and Quembly back to the small apartment without as much as a word to Mulch.

Mulch didn't seem to mind, or rather, he didn't have a choice with the death threat still looming prominently over his head.

Someone was blaring an annoyingly redundant song on their radio as they cruised the canals.

No one bothered to comment.

Artemis took a sip from his tea, making the Asian girl wonder what would happen if she were to suddenly take it and chuck the cup out the window.

"Kabeera. I believe she was even before Quembly's time." He finally spoke, but in such a casual manner it was implying he was discussing the weather.

The blonde girl flipped back her hair, her own anger had turned into cold steel in the tone of her voice. "Quite. I've only heard of stories of her."

"Kabeera was the name of the woman that later had her name changed to Scheherazade, meaning townswoman, in the book A Thousand and One Arabian nights." He stared absentmindedly out the window, "I'm sure a bookworm like you, Ame, would be able to understand that."

"Scheherazade… the name of the only queen that lived by telling countless stories to the Arabian King Shahryār. He would kill his wives each night because of his unfaithful first wife… but the King's name just technically meant sovereign…" She noted.

He nodded, "They were extremely ambiguous names. The main reason because the vampire government was able to 'alter' the original copies."

"Meaning… Scheherazade was actually Kabeera and… Beckett?" The word on her tongue felt funny, too incredible to actually have happened.

"But the stories said that they lived peacefully for the rest of their lives…" As the words fell out of Quembly's mouth, she answered her own question, "Oh… also altered."

The expression on his face turned from stoic to grim, "Kabeera did end up killing Beckett. Despite our warnings."

A seal formed on the palm of his hand, disintegrating the cup. "Beckett was never endowed with brilliant mind, unfortunately, and was all too human compared to the rest of us. He had faith in her love for him. '_She loves me, I'm sure of it.'_ He had said the night before his death. Even now Myles is not completely unaffected with Beckett's death."

"So the folklore of the first Vampire killing and Scheherazade are about the same people… but how did she kill him?" Though Ame was the one to ask, the other girl was also curious.

"Classified information." Artemis answered in a clipped toned.

They frowned in response, but said nothing.

"We're assuming that through the trades that were happening in the Mediterranean, Kabeera escaped on a merchant ship to Venice, which was the main city of Italy for Asian goods." He smirked then, "She was foolish enough to not keep moving, and this also goes for the rest of her family."

"Did you kill her?"

The questions had been cleared, and the last raging one was left to sit in Ame's mind.

He looked at her, and for a second his blue eyes turned incredibly dark.

"Damnit, you bastard! Did you kill her?" She demanded loudly.

Artemis turned his head away from her, looking once again at the muddy grey sky.

"Why did you ask me to help you then?" Her voice was defeated, weary.

He began to walk into the next room. "I never asked for your help."

True. He had never asked for her help, he never needed anyone to prove his innocence. She had thrown herself in carelessly, and now she would pay with her life for the mistake.

"I never did understand it."

Quembly's voice reached Ame after a devastatingly long silence.

"Why did he even bother with a human like you? You're certainly not beneficial, and just now, you've proved yourself completely worthless." The blonde sighed, "Maybe he brought you along purely for amusement. No one had ever understood his humor either way."

"He never brought me along. I forced myself along." She corrected.

The other girl's steel grey eyes narrowed, "And I have never understood you either. You've basically been told just now that you're destined to die, and you're correcting my technicalities?"

Ame slumped onto the couch, "I made a promise to myself to prove that the Artemis now is innocent. As a parting gift for the Artemis I used to know. I failed that promise, and I'm sure that's worse than death."

"Ridiculous. Promises made to the death can't be heard by the dead. I believe you're just so completely stupid, you can't understand your situation." Quembly huffed.

"Shut up." Her eyes flashed angrily, "and I believe that you're just so cold and heartless, you can't understand things like promises."

"Don't assume so easily." She attempted to clip the argument off prematurely.

Ame sat up straight, "The same thing goes for you. You think I'm okay with this? I went through this thinking that if I dealt with all this new magic mumbo-jumbo and murders and witches and shit, I'd be able to keep my promise, and just go on my merry way. There's still things about honoring the dead, and call me stupid again, but I believe that since this Artemis is using my best friend's body, he should at least keep his ass away from a jail cell."

"Jails are a trivial affair for him." Quembly laughed.

"I don't care. As long as he's not in trouble while I'm alive, I'll be fine with it. Until then, I'll be restless every time I see him on news doing something for your government."

"Stupid." The blonde muttered, defeated by the Ame's irrationality. "Tell me then, what are you going to do?"

"I'll just have to do whatever I can to stay alive. I'll pin the blame on someone else."

"Easier said than done." She scoffed.

Now speaking a bit offhandedly, "I could care less. I'll make it work… for Artemis and for me."

"Tell me then," Quembly answered scornfully, "Do you even have anyone in your mind? Do you believe you can just pick someone off the street?"

Ame was speechless for a moment, the other girl looking smug. Suddenly her eyes widened.

"Actually, I do…"

A few minutes later, after nearly crushing a few more fragile objects such as glass cups and hardcover books over Artemis' head, they arrived once again at Mulch's apartment.

He looked surprisingly unnerved by their sudden appearance.

The black haired girl was the first to speak. "Mulch. Is your dad here?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, but he's a bit out of it… as always…"

The picture of Opal's mother was on the side table at the entranceway, the frame once again face down.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this, but I need to talk to you dad. It's really important." Her face was set in the most serious expression she could manage.

Mulch complied, leading them up the stairs and into the farthest room down the hallway on their left. Just opening the door to the dark room left a dank and odorous smell.

Quembly decided to wait outside of the room, calling it nothing more than a rat hole.

Empty beer cans were littered all over the floor, the drapes shut. A fold out bed was across the doorway. Adam was snoring a considerable amount. After a few minutes of shaking and yelling, the Japanese girl decided that it was completely useless to try to wake him. "He won't move."

"His constant snoring is quite irritating." The genius put a hand over the man's forehead.

She looked warily at him, "What are you doing?"

"If you're trying to kill him, I can say you have my full consent." Mulch spoke lightly, "I'm just here to figure out what happened to the only two important people in my life."

"I am trying to wake him." A seal formed on Adam's forehead, burning blue.

It quickly disappeared, and the vampire snapped his fingers.

The corpulent man snorted once before waking by the highly affective prompt from Artemis.

"What?" He demanded, his voice loud, but speech slurred.

With the vampire standing next to her, Ame didn't feel like she should worry whether he had a gun on him or not. "I need to talk to you about your wife."

His face paled, "What d'you wanna know about that bitch?"

"How long have you been drinking?" She gave him a question in response.

"Since as long as I could remember." Mulch answered for him.

The girl sighed, "All right. Did you ever beat your wife? Even by accident?"

"No…" Adam stammered, "It was-"

"Of course he did." His son said without a waver in his voice, "Me, Mom, and even Opal."

Outside the room Quembly was curling a lock around her finger. "How is this getting us anywhere?"

"Be quiet," Ame replied crossly, "Just trust me."

She turned to Artemis then. "This makes sense doesn't it? If he did what I thought he did, he'd have a reason to run off without a word…"

"Of course." He replied easily, understanding completely what she was going at.

"Mr. Koboi. You ran away without even a word to your son. The death of your wife has always been deemed suspicious, and even now, you don't care about your daughter's death. I believe…" Her voice was firm until the very last sentence, her conscious racked with guilt about the claims she was about to make.

A whole minute passed by without a word, the man that had aimed a gun so confidently at them before was now shaking in fear on his bed.

It may have been true about Mrs. Koboi, but what about his daughter? Ame already knew Opal's real killer.

Artemis sighed, stepping in easily.

"Mr. Koboi, did you kill your wife and daughter?"

* * *

**For the sake of her own life, she's ready to blame Mulch's father for Opal's death? And what's this about their mother? **

**The first part is drawing to a close, so don't forget to vote for what you want me to write next. The poll's on my profile!**

**At the moment, the Sequel to BC: TL is the number one top pick, and then Sudden Death Mode! **

**Don't forget to review! Love love reviews! My birthday's on the 30th, make a nice present for me, eh? XD**


	18. Notice

Hey guys. I just wanted to make an important announcement.

I'm currently working on a NaNoWriMo novel.

NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writer's month, where you write a 50,000 word novel in one month. (Look it up on Google!)

It's always pressing time wise, so I won't have that much time for awhile, sorry you guys!

I do have a new story out called Sudden Death Mode. I will be posting the second chapter of that soon because it was prewritten.

Until I manage to complete my novel and such, please enjoy SDM. Updates will be coming soon after November.

-Amaya.


	19. Sixteenth Conspiracy: M i l l i o n

**SHE'S BACK**

**With the totally most CRAPTASTIC chapter I've written in my whole entire life. I'm on the verge of being sick right now, but I really felt an obligation to give you guys a new chapter. I hope you guys can enjoy it, but seriously, this is probably the worse chapter ever. Please bear with me.

* * *

  
**

**Million  
**

"Holly! Good job passing the ball today!" A brunette called out, grinning widely.

Holly turned around and smiled, her short red hair swaying just slightly in the breeze. She gave the other girl a thumbs up. "It's the least I can do."

Both of their faces were red from a long soccer tournament. She was a first year, but she had gained notoriety for her quick movements on the field. "Good things come in small packages" became a motto everyone knew in her high school.

She was a short girl with a tall personality. Friendly and tomboyish, she was an easy person to go to for help.

After changing quickly out of their soccer uniforms, the girls stepped out into the open courtyard in the back of the tall school building. Some people came over, congratulating their success in the game, giving a pat to Holly on the head as she protested with an easygoing demeanor.

Her teammate's cell phone rang, and a rarely seen girly look appeared on her face as she quickly punched the buttons on the number pad.

"Seems like you're having a good time with your boyfriend, Carly." The red head teased.

Carly blushed. "Oh shut up. You need to get your own sometime."

"I'm not cut out for that." She answered.

"Hey, hey." The brunette's face lit up, "What about that Trouble? He looks at you pretty frequently."

Holly frowned, "What kind of idiot gives themselves a nickname like 'Trouble'? He's stuck up twit either way."

The girl sighed in response, "You're so nice Holly, I'm sure you'll find someone among your admirers. I bet you even have some stalkers."

"Actually…" Her face looked distant.

Carly's eyes widened. "You're kidding me! I was just joking!"

She scratched her head. "It's just a feeling I've been getting lately… like someone watching me. I haven't seen anyone, but it just feels like that."

"You should be more careful then." The taller girl frowned.

"I've always been like this though." She replied, "Ever since an accident I had when I was little, I would sometimes get the feeling that someone was watching."

"You told me about that before, but with this whole vampire scare lately… and the fact that the treaty still hasn't been enacted yet…"

She laughed. "I wouldn't have enough blood to even fill one of them halfway full. Don't worry about it."

The other girl said nothing for awhile, both of them walking steadily to a bus stop.

It was hard to believe that only just a month ago, most people believed that the notion of vampires was just ravings of people from centuries ago. Even better yet, they seemed to actually be civilized people that kept to themselves… for the time being, at least.

"Come to think of it…" Carly mumbled.

Holly stopped. "What?"

"Who was that girl you were in the accident with?" Her voice was suddenly quiet and serious.

"Er…" It was such a long time ago, but even then she couldn't forget. "Ame Shiku. Why?"

She felt uneasy to be talking about this. "My friend Kouki goes to her high school… they talk quite a bit, being Japanese transfers… it seems like Ame hasn't been seen since the whole vampire epidemic."

An old feeling of worry flared up. They hadn't really talked ever since the accident, but even then they often heard about each other through friends. "Is she… missing?"

"Doesn't seem so. Her dad is perfectly confident that she's with her friend, but Kazuki, you know her brother, seems to be unwilling to speak."

"That doesn't sound right…" She didn't know what Ame's dad was like anymore, but it didn't seem like him to be so easy about her being gone with the vampires out. "Who's her friend?"

Carly smiled nervously, "I don't know if this is correct… well, I mean, it's probably a rumor, but her friend is Artemis Butler..."

"Oh, I know that. But what's so wrong with it?" Holly let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't watch the news a lot, don't know?"

Her friend's tone was harsh, surprising her. "Not really… why?"

"Artemis is actually Artemis Fowl." Her anxiety made her voice clipped.

"_That_ Fowl?" Holly gapped, "You mean, really _that_-"

"Yes yes yes! That Fowl!"

The red head smiled, "I never knew that Artemis was related to Myles! He was the doctor that treated me all those years back. They must be a really smart family-"

"Holly," She groaned, "You're normally a lot more aware than this… The whole family of Fowls are vampires."

The grin fell off her face.

"In fact, the most powerful family too. Artemis Senior is the first, and Artemis, the Artemis Ame knows, is second, and Myles himself in line for the fourth rank!" Carly blurted out.

No one said anything for quite sometime. The brunette took Holly's hand.

"Your friend is in a lot of trouble, Holly. So if you feel like someone's watching you, please be safe."

The grey light was filtering in, a Venetian afternoon.

Two vampires stood with emotionless faces, watching silently. The humans were doing likewise.

A large man sat on his fold out bed, perspiring freely.

"Could you answer me? Did you kill your wife?" After some time Ame had finally found her voice back.

The five of them made no noise as the city bustled around them. The stench from the water wafted in.

Adam turned to Mulch, a panicked look on his face. His son made no move, standing across from him with his arms crossed.

He opened his mouth and shut it quickly. Shuddering like that for a few more moments until the looks on the vampires' faces grew from stoic to annoyance. "You'd… you'd have to prove it first!"

Seconds later he realized his massive blunder.

The black haired girl sighed, "You heard him, Artemis. Let's roll out and get some clues."

They all left the house, leaving the man to mull over his problems by himself.

"First," Artemis looked a Mulch, "We you please give us the location of your previous residence?"

The old building was certainly as decrepit as the first, but Mulch held no shame. It was on the east side of the city, almost directly opposite of the first. After hours of traveling, they had finally arrived, the sun was ready to set.

Quembly looked just about ready to vomit from all the places she had recently visited, but she kept her mouth shut. If vampires could look anymore pale, she was sure she would.

The stood there a few moments as Mulch climbed up the back window and into the house to open the front door.

Mulch had been living in the house his father abandoned for more than a year now, and it was as messy as the other. The only difference was that the windows were thrown open. Like father, like son.

"Aren't you sad?" Ame asked abruptly. "That your father's obviously confessed to murdering your mother."

He didn't answer for awhile, kicking up old soda cans and bags of chips to clear a clean walkway. "He always existed in my mind as a drunken tyrant. I guess there was something in me that knew this from the start. But I guess I'm a bit sad about how things fell into such a state of disrepair so quickly."

The four looked around for a few moments.

"How do you suppose we look for evidence now? It has been about a year, any clues would have been destroyed through natural causes." Artemis looked a bit irritated.

Personally the Asian girl felt like punching him in the face. It was his fault that they were in such a predicament. He shouldn't have been the one complaining. "Do you… remember anything happening out of the usual before her death?"

"I don't know… I don't remember anything. He was as absent as usual, and Mom was quiet as ever." Mulch couldn't be the judge for any of it. His family was in such a permanent state of chaos he couldn't tell what was normal or not.

She nodded. "Does he have any friends?"

"What does this have to do with anything we're doing?" Quembly grimaced, already thoroughly bored of this investigation.

"Since we have no forensic evidence at the moment," Artemis answered smoothly, "we will have to see if there were any eyewitnesses, right?"

Ame frowned. He had just taken the words from her mouth. "Now that I think about it… why can't we just do some binding spell and make him spit out where he put the body?"

"Every binding leaves an imprint, like a gun does to a bullet from its natural expanding before it's released from the chamber. Because we have such an ability, we must prove to the court without any special intervention."

Mulch pulled out an address book from the piles of snack bags on a table. He flipped through it before tossing it at the black haired girl. "I guess we'll start searching from here."

Almost everyone felt the urge to groan. Every page was out of order or smudged with an unknown liquid or solid of some sort. Even then, the book was no better than a handful of scribbles from the man's drunken writing.

"One step starts a thousand." Ame muttered.

The boy cocked his head. "What's that?"

"Supposedly it is a Chinese proverb." The vampire replied, his face as impassive as ever.

"More like a million…"

* * *

**So, it seems like they're getting somewhere...**

**But again, please excuse the crap that is this chapter. I'll give you a better one next time around, but I just couldn't find a good way to finish this one off, and I'm sick and probably delirious. **

**I hope I haven't scared you guys off... I still have a plot...**

**Anyways, please review! I won't mind people telling me that this chapter was bad... but please drop by to leave a comment! Thank you for reading!  
**


	20. Seventeenth Conspiracy: O V E R

**She's back... after such a long absence... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl, but I do own a wheel a cheese that I can hit him with...**

**Anyways, please enjoy!**

**Seventeenth Conspiracy: O V E R  
**

Beep Beep Beep…

In the terrace of the Fowl manor, a shrill ring sounded from the cellphone.

"Hmm?" As Myles picked up the phone to answer the call, he suddenly stopped.

It was a text from Artemis, highly unusual.

"Who is it?" The frail girl was sitting across from him, sipping her tea quietly.

He snorted in reply, smiling just slightly.

**To: Myles Fowl**

**From: Artemis Fowl**

**Subject: HE'S A BASTARD**

Hey,

It's Ame… we're having a bit of a problem searching for evidence that Opal's dad killed her mum. Can you reply with any links to articles about it? Otherwise we'll have to search with his address book and artemis is comign with apissed look onhisface so i ned togo bye

He handed the phone to her and she took it delicately, reading it over before laughing herself. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

She tugged at the ribbon in her hair, "Whatever you do, there are only two outcomes."

"Meaning whatever I do is meaningless at the moment." Myles leaned forward, his arm propped against the small glass table.

"Exactly." She walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He looked out into the vast green hills. "I guess I should do something…"

"It won't be like the last time," The girl assured, easily guessing his thoughts, "Because the last time was for the sake of now."

"Where's Butler?"

A high-pitched voice called from the door to the foyer.

"He's away at the moment." Her hand slid off, turning toward the door.

Myles stretched and got up. "I'll tell you when he comes back. For now, I need to do something. You two have a nice chat."

He stepped easily around the other figure and back into the other house.

"I'm not here for a nice chat."

"I know."

The two smiled. One genuinely, the other full of malice.

"How long is this going to take?"

"A while longer… do you want to talk to Holly or—"

"—I'm not here to talk about her, or the other her… as a matter of fact, I'm here to talk to you about yourself."

"I don't remember much… just what they've told me."

"Then why can you believe it?"

She tugged at her ribbon once again. "Because of the absence of the past in myself, I can see ahead… I know that their words are the truth."

"Whatever." The other huffed, "I know what it is already."

"For your troubles, I'll see if Myles can buy you another pair of boots."

"Hmph. Don't take me so lightly."

* * *

Holly stood in the middle of a large crossway, people passing by her like a blur of brightly colored objects. She tried to take a step forward, but her foot refused to move.

She could only do so much as to crane her neck, hoping to find a familiar face among the strangers, only to be met with a haze of different shades of skin.

Suddenly a distinctly red colored head appeared just to bob back into the sea of pastels.

Every once in awhile, she would see it once again, every time closer to her than the first.

Slowly a small figure emerged from the rest of the people, as slim and tiny as a child.

"Umm…" Holly tried to muster out words, anything, to explain the situation.

Abruptly the other's head snapped upwards, and she saw no one else but herself.

She woke up with a short gasp, quickly running a hand through her hair. Lately she had been having weird dreams, but this certainly topped her list.

Holly scanned her room, glancing at her digital clock before stopping. "Wasn't today the tenth?"

The clock read eight thirteen, July 11th.

"Oh you're so foolish."

A voice came from behind her, and she spun around quickly, bracing herself.

A mirror was what she thought a first, a mirror depicting her face as irritated and impatient.

The surface broke, and her reflection reached out to touch her cheek. Its expression softened.

"How long will it take you to realize?"

Her hazel eyes widened.

"Humans aren't alone anymore."

* * *

"This officially sucks!" Ame screeched into the open air.

Artemis quickly slid the phone into his suit pocket, where it would be temporarily safe from the Asian girl's prying hands.

Quembly sat in the background, silently agreeing with the other girl for once.

There was less than a week left before the signing of the 15 Year's Agreement. That day would also be the day Artemis would be held on trial, and because of that, tensions were running high.

After a previous week of unsuccessful searching, knocking on doors of angry drunkards time and time again, and searching through both of the houses for evidence, they were only able to find circumstantial proof.

They were able to recover an insurance note, stating that Opal's mother had a twenty five thousand dollar life insurance bond, which gave motive.

Ame then questioned why couldn't the stoic vampire just make the "fat lard" confess again like before.

Unfortunately, he explained, Humans were not on any terms to believe in Vampire bindings of any sort. Only old-fashioned forensics and searching would suffice in a trial like his.

The girl had finally broken down and stole Artemis' cellphone, completely disregarding the fact that he was most likely quite aware of the situation, and sent a plea text to his brother.

The phone was very quickly confiscated, earning a sour look from Mulch at their failed plan.

It was all up to Myles now, whether he decided to throw them a life line or not.

The minutes passed by, Ame angrily gnawing on her chocolate bar as Quembly read a magazine with a thoroughly disgusted look on her face. Even Mulch seemed to be fingering the blade of his knife with a pleasantly dreamy look on his face…

Charles de Beriot's Concerto No. 9 in A Minor, Op 104 erupted from the cellphone, and before the black-haired young man could even reach towards his own pocket, a small girl tackled him. She shoved her hand into his pocket with a pained look on her face, only to retrieve the almost paper thin phone in triumph before sprinting away.

Artemis huffed in response, deciding not to give her the chance to bite his fingers if he were to reach for it again.

"It's Myles!" She grinned wickedly, "And we have it! The life line! No more thousand pebbles-"

"-Steps. I can hardly imagine why you would forget that as it was you who quoted it."

"Shut up!" She shot back, an ecstatic grin on her face. "We're going home!"

**Myles finally brought up a trump card? And who were the two people talking at the very beginning of the chapter? And of course... what the hell is going on with the two Holly's?!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More will come, I swear!**

**For now, please review! Reviews are my foooood!  
**


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